Hallee
by Cassie Valentine
Summary: SatoTucker. A little mystery, a little time travel, a little Vulcan and a little girl make life a little more interesting for Hoshi, Trip and the rest of the Enterprise crew. COMPLETED! Chapters 1 to 6 now in Chapter one. Chapters 3 to 8 edited for boo bo
1. Chapter 1

-1Title: Hallee  
Author: Cassie Valentine  
Rating: PG  
Codes: Tu/S, All  
Summary: I don't have a plot for sure yet and you think I'll have a summary?  
Author note: Oh God, attack of the Mary Sue all over again. I think I'm gonna end up with another Trilogy here, I can see it now. I thought I had beat this with Andromeda and the third part of the Cassie trilogy that I can't finish. Sigh  
Thanks: Pip, the first Beta who is the first Beta who has gotten BACK to me about something I've sent off.  
Disclaimer: Paramount owns the pond I'm just skinny dippin' in it.

"There is absolutely nothing wrong with her, Captain," Phlox said as he looked at the read outs once more.

"Except for the fact that we don't know where she came from or how she got here," Archer said as he glanced at the small girl on the bed. He let his eyes wander to the red hair that was resting on the pillow and briefly wondered if there was a pair of bright green eyes to match the hair. His eyes stayed on her face before he looked away and sighed.

"Let me know when she wakes up,"

"Certainly," the doctor said as he went off to tend to his strange animals.

Archer glanced behind him once more before leaving sickbay for the bridge. Archer retreated into his ready room after leaving orders to find out how the girl had ended up on his ship.

"Why is it always us, Porthos?" he asked.

Porthos looked at his owner for a moment and then went back to sleep. Jonathon laughed to himself before turning to look at some scans him self.

"And what can I do for you Ensign?" Phlox asked when Hoshi came into the med bay.

"I was just wondering how our guest was," she said.

"Curiosity got the best of you?" he asked. She smiled and blush.

"Maybe a little," she admitted.

"Go right ahead," he said with a smile of his own as he watched her.

Hoshi sighed as she looked over the small girl, who laid on the bio-bed, fast asleep. She watched for a moment before adjusting the covers slightly and turning to leave.

"She's all yours, doctor," the linguist replied.

"Thank you ensign," Doctor Phlox answered and walked to the girl just as she woke up.

"Why hello there," he said.

The girl blinked a few times and her eyes grew wide when she saw Phlox. Then she let out an ear piercing scream, in utter horror.

"Oh my," Phlox said as he tried to calm her down, succeeding only in making her more agitated.

Hoshi watched the situation for a moment before coming over to Phlox's aid.

"Hey, it's okay. We won't harm you," Ensign Sato soothed the girl as she ushered Phlox away for a moment.

The petite girl calmed down a little when she saw Hoshi, but quickly moved her eyes back to Phlox to keep an eye on him.

"I'm Hoshi," Sato said. The girl simply stared back at her. "What's your name?"

"I'm not supposed to talk to strangers," the girl whispered.

"That's a good rule," Hoshi said. "But I'm pretty sure you'll be safe here."

The girl let the word sink in before she made her decision. "I'm Hallee."

"Welcome aboard Enterprise, Hallee," Hoshi replied, with a smile on her face.

Hallee stared at Hoshi for a bit longer.

"What is he?" she asked, turning her gaze to Phlox.

"He's a Denobulan."

"A what?" she asked.

"He's an alien," she simplified. "He's also our doctor."

"Oh."

"He's a nice guy. He doesn't bite."

"Hard," Phlox threw in with a smile.

Hallee shrunk back onto the bed and stared at him, horrified at the thought of being bitten.

"He's kidding." Hallee looked at Hoshi. "He doesn't bite at all. I swear," she told her.

Hallee turned her bright green eyes away from Hoshi and looked at Phlox for another moment and watched as he puttered around with all the cages and other storage containers for his creatures. She listened to him talking to the creatures and decided that maybe he wasn't so bad. So far.

"Okay," she answered finally.

"Okay," Hoshi said with a nod. "I think we should go and introduce you to Captain Archer."

"Is he an alien too?" she asked, not sure if she wanted to face something new again already.

"Nope. He's as human as you and me," Ensign Sato replied.

Hallee smiled a little. "I like the sound of that."

"Captain Archer will be waiting for you in his quarters," Phlox told them as he moved away from the communications panel. "And if you two will excuse me, I think I'll go and see what Chef has made for lunch."

"I think we'll manage," Hoshi said with a smile as she lifted Hallee down and took her hand. "Come on, I'll show you around a bit."

Hallee hung on to Hoshi as they walked.

Very little was said as she worked on taking everything in. Everybody was wearing the same thing and it was starting to remind her of some of the science fiction movie she had watched with her brother. Hallee let a little sigh go when she thought of home.

"You okay?"

"I guess."

"You guess?" Sato asked as she stopped off to the side of a corridor.

"I. . . I guess I kind of miss home," she admitted quietly.

Hoshi sighed.

"I kinda miss home too," she admitted.

"Really?"

"Yep. It's hard to be away from home. Especially when you weren't expecting it." Hallee

thought this over for a bit. "Should we keep going?"

"Yeah. I'm ready," the little girl replied as she took Sato's hand once again and the two continued on their way as she took in the other officers and they did the same of her.

PART 3

The two continued on their way to Archer's quarters as Hoshi tried to keep up a conversation. Hallee, caught up in her attempts to take everything in at once was giving mostly one word answers. Hoshi stopped talking when she felt Hallee start to lag behind. She looked ahead and smiled a little as she saw T'Pol exiting a corridor in front of them.

"That's Sub-Commander T'Pol. She's a Vulcan."

"Oh," said Hallee as she watched her disappear down another hallway without noticing them.

"Havin' some Show and Tell, I see," Trip said as he came up behind the two.

"Just a little," Hoshi said as she stopped to let him catch up.

She didn't need to turn around to see who it was, she'd recognized that southern accent anywhere.

"Well, how 'bout lettin' me play too?" he asked.

"What would you like to know?"

"First of all, who's yer friend?"

"This, is Hallee," Sato said as she gave her a little push forward.

"Commander Charles Tucker at yer service," he said as he offered a hand to shake. Hallee

took it timidly. "But you darlin', you can call me Trip."

Hallee giggled a little and Hoshi sighed as she shook her head.

"He's also nothing but trouble," she threw in.

Hallee smiled again. She'd have to remember that.

"I most certainly am not," he said in self defence. Hoshi laughed under her breath.

"Anyway, where are you two fine ladies off to?"

"We're on our way to meet Captain Archer."

"Ah, maybe if he thinks you're cute, he'll let ya play with Porthos."

"Porthos?" Hallee asked, intrigued.

"His dog," Hoshi filled in.

"He has a dog? Is he big? Small? Is he cute? Does he bite? Does he? "

"Whoa! Slow down there darlin'," Trip said with a smile.

Hoshi shook her head. Leave it to Trip to take Hallee's mind off of things.

"Come on then, let's get goin'!" he said as he started to jog towards the lift.

Hallee giggled and wiggled out of Hoshi grasp as she took off after Trip. The poor ensign called out for them to slow down, but when they didn't listen, she sighed and took off after them.

PART 4

Trip and Hallee came to a stop when they got to the lift and waited for Hoshi who quickly caught up and glared at Trip.

"What?" he asked defensively.

"You're going to be a bad influence aren't you?" she asked as she took Hallee's hand again and led her into the lift.

Trip just shrugged and smiled a little. Hallee giggled, but quickly stopped when she got a glare of her own.

"Sorry," she said.

The fact that she was still wearing a bit of a smile wasn't lost on Hoshi.

"Come on, let's go," she said as she ushered then out of the lift. "Behave," she warned the two as she rang for entry.

Hallee quickly remembered why there were here, felt the apprehension sink in again and she quickly glued herself to Hoshi's side, hiding as far behind her as she could.

"Come," Archer called from within. "Well, I certainly wasn't expecting you," he said to Trip.

"Just thought I'd come along fer fun," he said with a smile as he sat down.

Porthos perked up at the sound of Trip's voice and wandered over. He received a pat on the head from Trip, a smile from Hoshi and found a newcomer. Now this was an unexpected treat. He started sniffing to figure out where she came from and was rewarded with a giggle. Porthos bounced back over to John, wagging his tail with glee before quickly bouncing back over to the newcomer.

Hoshi sat down beside Trip and Hallee sat down on the floor, as Porthos came back to her and sniffed her a little more before deciding she was okay and flopped on the floor, looking for a tummy rub. Hallee snickered a little as she gave the beagle a rub.

"Well, now that yer dog has found the kid, I suppose we can move on," Trip said as everyone laughed.

"Of course," Archer said. "I'd like to know who I'm going to have to share Porthos with."

"This is Hallee," Hoshi explained to the captain. "We didn't get much past that."

Hallee looked up at the mention of her name and Porthos rolled over on to his stomach when the little girl stopped rubbing his stomach. He nuzzled her hand, but sighed and put his head on his paws when she didn't respond. He watched her shuffle a little closer to Hoshi and he followed. John and Trip chuckled at Porthos.

"How are you Hallee?" Jon asked.

The girl stared at him for a moment and he was pleasantly surprised to see that he had been right about the green eyes to match her red hair.

"Okay," she said as she turned her attention back to Porthos.

"Just okay?"

"Yeah," she said as she smiled at the dog again. Jonathan looked to Sato for answers and she shrugged. "I like your dog, even if he does have a funny name," Hallee told John.

"Well I'm glad. Porthos is always looking to make a new friend," he said as he watched her for a moment longer.

"How did you get here Hallee?" he asked straight out.

Hallee paused again and Porthos gave a big doggy sigh. He didn't like his rubs being interrupted.

"I was lookin' for a ball that Hayden threw into the bushes," she said. "Hayden's my brother. He's eight," she explained. "He told me to find the blue one too and told him that we were only playin' with the green one an' then he said we were playin' with them both now an' I guess he threw it cause I saw something bounce a little farther away so I went after it and slipped and fell down the hill into the cave we're not supposed to go in," she said with a shrug.

She looked to the adults to see their reactions before she turned back to Porthos.

"That's it?" Trip asked.

"Yep," she said. "When can I go home?" she asked.

The three paused.

"Later," Trip answered quickly when the other two had no answers.

"Oh. Can I take Porthos for a walk?"

"Why not?" John said after a moment. "It's almost lunch time anyways and I bet he's

getting hungry."

"So am I," she said, after thinking about things for a moment.

The Captain stood up and found the leash and hooked Porthos up.

"Be gentle, she's not used to you," Archer warned as he handed it to Hallee.

"Trip, if you wouldn't mind sticking around, I'd like to talk to you and T'Pol," the captain continued as he headed over to the comm panel.

"Sure thing," Trip said. Hoshi got up and started to herd the small child and the animal out.

"I guess we'll talk later then," the ensign replied.

"I'll fill ya in," Trip assured her.

"Thanks," she smile as she watched Porthos pulling on the leash to go faster as Hallee laughed, trying to keep up with the small dog.

Hoshi said her good byes quickly as she left to try and help Hallee stay connected to her arm.

PART 5

"Was that all she said?" T'Pol asked after John had explained everything to her. "What were the deposits in the cave?" Trip chuckled.

"She's about four T'Pol, maybe five. All she knows is that she's not supposed to play in there on punishment of certain death."

"She's hesitant to give out information as well," John threw in. "She's not sure who to trust, although Ensign Sato seems to be falling into the position of a confidant."

T'Pol came as close to sighing as Vulcans do before starting again. "Depending on where this cave is and the composition of the minerals in the rocks, it is possible in theory to cause a rift of some kind."

"I thought time travel was impossible," Jonathon said.

"I never specifically said that she had traveled through time, Captain."

"As arrogant is this is gonna sound, she didn't know who any of us were, she's never seen an alien before and doesn't understand that she's out in the middle of outer space," Trip threw in. "She has to be from the past."

T'Pol stayed quiet for a moment. "I suppose logic dictates that I must agree to this . . . .

Assumption," she said, finally admitting defeat.

"Well," Archer said, breaking the silence. "Now that we have our hypothesis, what do we do about it?"

"We must find out exactly where the girl lives," T'Pol said.

"We're going to have to figure out exactly how long 'later' is," Archer said, thinking back to Trip's answer to Hallee's question about going home.

"We're gonna have to find her some where ta live while she's here," Trip said.

Archer paused. He hadn't thought of that. "Well, where should we put her?"

"I think the easiest thing ta do might be to lend Hoshi some of the guest quarters fer a while. Hallee seems pretty well glued ta her."

"If Hoshi agrees, we'll do that. If she doesn't?" John asked.

"We could solicit volunteers from the crew," T'Pol suggested.

"I'll take'er," Trip said. John and the sub-commander just looked at him. "Is it so hard ta believe that I could watch a kid?"

"It's definitely not something I thought I'd hear you volunteer for, Trip."

"I've watched my nephew lots of times over night."

"Your nephew has never been stranded somewhere with people he does not know," T'Pol rationalized.

"I can handle the tears. If it comes to that," he said, starting to wonder about this.

"Besides, why aren'tcha worried 'bout Hoshi havin' to deal with that?" Archer smiled a little but didn't answer. He was pretty sure Trip knew the answer coming would be something along the lines of stereotypes. "That's what I thought," he said as he stood up.

"So, are we done fer now?"

"For now. Dismissed," Archer said as the two left. "Trip, I never meant to doubt you're competency at something like this."

"I never said ya had Cap'n. I just couldn't pass up an opportunity to frazzle T'Pol," he said with a smile as he left.

John shook his head and followed Trip to the Mess for something to eat. 

PART 6

"Stop feedin' the dog," Trip said as he came and sat down.

Porthos looked at Trip and quickly laid down as Hallee put the piece of meat in her mouth and swung around to face her plate.

"You stop feedin' the dog too!" he told Hoshi with a smile as he saw her passing a piece of cheese under the table.

She blushed a little at being caught and Hallee laughed at her.

"So how did it go?" she asked.

"There's still gonna be some questions, but I guess you'll be asked later since the Cap'n seems to be distracted for a while. T'Pol decided she had to talk to him again right away, so he's stickin' around with her. I do have some good news for ya."

"And that is?"

"Yer gettin' some bigger quarters fer a while," he told her as he started eating.

"Got myself a room mate, huh?"

"If ya wan'er. If not, I'll take 'er," he said as he stopped eating and looked at her.

"It's okay, I'll take her."

"Take who where?" Hallee asked as she finished her cheese and tried to figure out how to get rid of the carrots.

"Take you to sleep with me," Hoshi said.

Hallee looked up.

"But I'm going home later," she said.

"Hallee, we haven't figured out when later is yet," Trip told her.

"Oh," she said as she paused. "Are you ever gonna figure out when later is?"

"Of course," Hoshi said.

Hallee didn't look quite so upset over that, but she was still fairly displeased with this.

"I'm done," she announced.

"Why don'tcha go see if Chef's got somethin' sweet for ya," Trip told her.

She smiled and slid off her chair, but paused.

"Go on, he's a nice guy. Tell'm Trip sent ya."

She wandered off again and worked up the nerve as she went.

"It's going to be a long night," Hoshi sighed.

"Cap'n says you can have tomorrow off if things go real bad. You do have to finish off a shift today tough," he explained.

"Where do I send her?" she asked. Trip paused mid chew.

That hadn't been thought of before T'Pol interrupted.

"Uhhh. . . Know anyone you can rope inta it?"

"Malcolm's off duty right now," she said and Trip nearly choked.

"She'd be better off with me in engineerin'," he replied.

"Great," she said as she jumped up. "I'll pick her up after my shift is over," she said as she dashed out of the mess hall.

"Son of a bitch," Tucker said under his breath. "I've been left holdin' the kid."


	2. Chapter 2

-1PART 7

"Where's Hoshi?" Hallee asked as she came back to the table, balancing a glass of milk and some cookies.

"She had ta go back ta work," Trip said as she handed him a cookie.

"Where am I goin'?" she asked as she climbed back up in the chair and started to dunk the cookies.

"Yer commin' with me. Ya just gotta, GOTTA remember not to touch a thing unless I tell ya that ya can. Ok?"

"Yeah," she said, concentrating on the cookie.

"Hey, this is important."

"I'll look with my eyes and not with my hands," she said, repeating the code that's familiar to every kid.

"Good girl. Soon as yer done, we'll drop Porthos off and be on our way."

"He can't come?"

"Engineerin' is no place for a dog or a kid, but I guess we'll have to make do."

Hallee soon finished and Porthos was dropped off with a quick side trip for something for her to draw on. Soon, Hallee had been parked in one of the less busy parts of engineering and told not to leave without asking to talk to him.

"Trip?" she asked after 20 minutes.

"Yeah Darlin'?"

"I'm bored," she declared.

Trip's blood ran cold at the sound of those words. His mother had always said that a bored kid was trouble until they could be sent out side to play and there was no outside for Hallee to play in.

"Okay, well," he said as he tried to think of something for her to do.

"What's that?" she asked, pointing to some of the panels.

"What are they for?" Trip sighed, once again, he had been saved by curiosity.

He picked her up and brought her over to the panels and started to explain things. Hallee yawned a little as she listened. She wanted to learn about things, but it was warm in engineering and her tummy was full and she was starting to get sleepy.

"Hey, no sleepin' here. I don't have anywhere ta put ya," he warned her.

"Sorry," she said around a yawn.

He sighed. This wasn't going to work. He sighed and stepped away from what he was doing. Leaving instructions to call him if they needed him, he left his domain with a four year old on his hip and headed for his quarters. He made a mental note to kill, or at least injure, Hoshi later.

"I didn't wanna leave," Hallee complained.

"Tough luck. There's not a lot of space for a kid in there, never mind a sleepy one," he said.

"Are you mad?" she asked, still not quite sure where she fit into things.

"Just a little frustrated. This ship just ain't built to have kids on it. It's gonna take a couple of days to get things organized," he assured her with a sigh.

"Are you sure yer not mad?" she asked again.

"I'm sure," he told her.

She drifted off into silence, her fears somewhat erased and enjoyed the ride.

PART 8

"You really should stop fidgeting," Travis told Hoshi.

"How can you see what I'm doing?"

"Reflections," he told her as he turned around to look at her.

"I'm not fidgeting," she argued with him. He smiled at her.

"Right, you're doing a new dance maybe?"

"Something like that," she answered as she turned back to her console.

The Captain and T'Pol hadn't returned from their lunch meeting yet so it was just her and Travis on the bridge with a few other officers milling around.

"I heard you inadvertently got your self a room mate," Mayweather said, breaking the long silence.

Sato sighed.

"Does everybody know about Hallee?"

"Small ship." She sighed again.

"Yeah I did. And I left her with Trip and I feel kind of guilty. The bridge has got to be better for her than engineering."

"You let him take a kid to engineering?" he asked as he looked at her again. She closed her eyes and shook her head.

"Yes. It seemed like a good idea at the time," she said in her own defence.

Travis chuckled at her.

"Ah, he's probably teaching her how everything works by now."

"Hopefully," she said as she turned back to her console. "Aren't you bored? Just sitting out here, doing nothing?"

"A good pilot is never doing nothing," he told her.

She cocked an eyebrow. "Okay, so we never look like we're doing nothing."

"That's better. At least we know who does all the work around here."

"Thank you for the credit Ensign," Archer said as he came onto the bridge.

Hoshi started to formulate a response, but when she saw the smile, she simply returned it, though hers was a little more sheepish than his.

"Where did you find a babysitter on such short notice?" he asked.

"I left her with Trip," she said.

"In engineering?"

"I think so. I left her in the mess with Trip. I don't know where they went after that," she said as she turned away from him.

Archer stayed quiet.

"Since commander Tucker seems to have fallen into the role of defacto guardian right along with you, I'd like to meet with the three of you tomorrow to work out some schedules. How does lunch sound? Give everybody a chance to wake up," he said.

"Sounds fine for me, sir," she said.

"Good. I'll see you all then," he said as he sat down in his chair, watching Travis and wondering if he was actually doing anything or not.

PART 9

"Are you coming to movie night?" Travis asked as the two left the bridge after their shift.

"Probably not," Hoshi replied. "As much as I'd like to see Death To Smoochy, I doubt a four year old will want to."

"The rating might be a little high," he threw in.

"Well, that too," Hoshi said with a smile as she headed to Trip's quarters.

She had decided to start there and then move on to engineering.

"Have fun," Mayweather said as he went on his way.

"Thanks," she said as she pressed the button by the door.

Trip snapped out of the doze he had slipped into.

"Come in," he called as he glanced down at Hallee who had dropped off at some point.

He turned down the music as Hoshi walked in.

"Well, you're just sliding right into this role, aren't you?" she asked as she sat down beside him.

"I didn't mean too. She was just happy to sit and listen to the music and she fell asleep and I guess I was on my way out too," he said with a yawn and a smile.

Hoshi sighed, her plan for the night went out the window. She hadn't counted on a nap in her plans. This pushed everything back. Then something else occurred to her.

"She doesn't have anything else to wear but that," she observed as her mind started work on a solution.

"I'll donate a shirt to the cause," Trip said as he got up with Hallee. "There, an authentic Starfleet night shirt," he told her as he came back out with it, he had put Hallee on his bed.

Sato chuckled.

"Well, we're one step ahead now, aren't we?" she asked him as she took the shirt and sat down on the couch. Trip sighed and sat down beside her.

"So what are ya doin' with her tonight?"

"Not much, I guess. I definitely hadn't planned on her taking a nap."

"She's had a big adventure today, travelin' through time and space an' all. That kinda thing takes a lot out of ya," Tucker told her.

Sato shook her head.

"You know from experience?"

"Somethin' like that," he told her as he glanced over at her.

"The captain wants to see the three of us at lunch tomorrow. I guess I should suggest some shore leave."

"Sounds good," he said with a strech.

The two sat for a bit and just listened to the music.

"Do you think we'll ever find a way to get her home?" Hoshi asked out of the blue.

Trip paused. He hadn't really thought about that yet.

"I dunno. Considering that fact that she just appeared on board was a little strange. If we had found 'er on a planet, it would probably be easier to get 'er home," he said as he glanced over at her.

She nodded and thought about things for a bit.

"How do you think she'll be here before we tell Starfleet?"

"Probably not long," he said. "A few days, maybe a week or two at the most."

The two looked at each other. They knew what being sent back to earth meant; never ending tests, public housing and a lot of instability. Definitely not a way to live one's life.

PART 10

Trip reached over and grabbed Hoshi's hand. "Don't worry though, the Cap'n'll fight for her."

"And if he doesn't?" Hoshi asked.

"I will," he told her.

"Grown on you already?" she asked with a smile.

He blushed a little.

"She's a cute kid. I'm startin' to like her," he replied.

"Starting to? She's been the only person you've called 'darlin'' since she got here," she countered.

Trip really blushed this time. Hoshi laughed.

"Come on," he said as he stood up and pulled her with him.

He was gonna distract her if it was the last thing he did. He turned up the music slightly before he took her into his arms again.

"What are you doing?" she asked as she went along with things.

"We're dancin'," he told her.

"You're just trying to change the subject."

"Is it workin'?" he asked.

She stayed quiet for a moment.

"Yes, it is," she said after she decided that he knew what he was doing and wasn't going to walk all over her feet.

"Oh good," he said with a sigh. "Yer pretty good at this," he commented.

"Something I picked up in high school. It's what you get for cutting class on options day," she said with a smile.

He laughed.

"Well, all least ya didn't get stuck with something like Astrology," he commented.

"Well..."

Trip stared at her.

"You didn't."

"No, I didn't, but I had you there for a moment."

He smiled and shook his head and spun her out, almost missing her when he saw Hallee in the doorway of the bed room.

"Hey darlin'," he said softly as he turned down the music.

Hallee rubbed an eye, glanced at him then headed for Hoshi, arms out, wanting to be picked up. Sato complied with the girls wishes and Hallee promptly made herself comfortable.

"So, you two gonna stick around fer a while?" he asked.

"No, I think I should get her relatively settled since it seems she'll be staying for the night.

There are also some minor details to be worked out," she said as she picked up the shirt Trip had donated to the 'clothe Hallee' fund as it had been named.

"Oh, alright then. See you two at dinner?"

"You should," Sato said as she left. "Thanks Trip," she called.

"No problem," he said as he turned back to his quarters to gather his PADDs, turn off the music and then quickly headed for engineering to try and salvage his shift.

PART 11

Hoshi gave up on trying to start a conversation when Hallee just started nodding to her answers. She sighed as they stopped at the quest quarters and she opened the door and stepped in.

"Want to have a look around?" Hallee lifted her head up and glanced around before Hoshi put her on the ground.

"It's bigger than Trip's quarters," she commented as she looked around.

"I think they're bigger than just about everyone's," Sato said as she looked around too.

"There's only one bed," she commented out loud.

"But it's big," Hallee said as she climbed up on it and started jumping, her troubles quickly forgotten. Hoshi watched her for a second before shaking her head and leaving.

"Don't fall off," she called.

"FIVE LITTLE MONKIES JUMPIN' ON THE BED!" Hallee started to sing as loud as she could. Hoshi started to laugh as she looked around a little more, wondering if she was going to get any sleep tonight at all.

"Oh to be a VIP," she whispered to herself. The room was bigger than her quarters, but not by much. Then again, after 3 years on Enterprise, almost any other room looked bigger than hers.

"There's monsters in there!" Hallee yelled as she ran out of the room and glued herself to the ensign's legs. "They banged on the wall and yelled at me! They're gonna eat me!" Hoshi looked down at her.

"They're not monsters. The banging and yelling was who ever is living on the other side of the wall. They want you to be quiet." Hallee paused.

"Really?"

"Really."

"Ya sure?"

"I'm sure," she told her. "Now, do you think you could unglue yourself before we both fall over?"

"Oh, right," Hallee said as she unstuck herself and made a mental note to ask Trip if Hoshi was right.

Saying that there was someone living next door was too easy. The monsters might have gotten to Hoshi and she needed to be safe. Space ship monsters might be smarter than planet monsters.

PART 12

By the time diner rolled around, Hallee had forgotten all about asking Trip about the monsters. She knew that it wasn't long after supper that she was going to have to go to bed and she didn't like the sound of that. It wasn't her room that she was sleeping, or her bed and she didn't have her stuffed tiger or her blankie. She knew that Hoshi wouldn't know how to do things right and she just plain missed home by now.

Hallee followed Hoshi silently to the mess hall and just pushed her food around her plate while they were there. When she had finished, Hoshi leaned her elbows on the table and watched Hallee mostly stare at her plate.

"Are you done?" she asked quietly.

Hallee looked up at her and nodded with a sniffle. Hallee knew she was going to cry, but she wasn't going to do it in the mess hall if it killed her.

"Want to go?" She nodded yes again and the two cleaned up and left.

"Sorry," Hoshi said to Trip as the two of them passed him as he was just coming in.

"I'll check in on things later," he said as he watched them go, not really sure if Hoshi had heard him or not.

He sighed. He didn't know who this would be rougher for; Hoshi or Hallee.

Trip, true to his word, showed up on Hoshi's door step about an hour later and could hear how well it was going. He braced himself, decided against ringing for entry and just broke the door code.

"I see this is where the party is," he commented.

The ensign's head jerked up when she heard him and the two stared at each other for a while.

"Come 'er darlin'," he said as she pried Hallee off of Hoshi. "You tell me all about it and we'll give her a break, okay?"

Hallee nodded her head and started to pour out her troubles to Trip, who was struggling to pick up what she was saying through the sobbing.

Hoshi quickly bolted from the main room and into the bathroom where she closed the door and sunk to the floor, burying her head in her hands and tried to collect herself. Everything she had worked so hard at, getting over being home sick, the space sickness, everything was starting to surface again and she needed to get control of it. Quickly.

PART 13

"There, see? It's not so bad," Trip told Hallee as she finally started to drift off.

Commander Tucker had started to pace the room with her, making sure to pass by the bath room so he could keep an ear on Hoshi.

"I wanna go home," Hallee got out with a few more sobs.

"Me too," Trip told her. "I miss ma room and momma in the kitchen in the mornin's and doin' nothin' all day." Trip waited for a reply, but got none and he sighed.

"Finally," he muttered. "Hope you have a better sleep than I'm gonna have," he told her as he tucked her in on one side of the giant bed.

Tucker started to head for the door and paused. He thought about just leaving Sato to do what ever she was doing, but something, maybe all that common sense his mother had tried to drive into him, was telling him to at least ask how she was.

"Hoshi?" he asked as he knocked on the door. Sato steadied herself.

"Yeah?" she called.

"Uh," he stumbled. "Uh, jest wanted ta letcha know that Hallee's sleepin' and that I think I'm gonna go."

Sato felt a sense of relief flood over her when she heard that Hallee was asleep.

"Are ya okay?" he asked.

Hoshi sighed, stood and opened the door.

"I think so," the woman told him, while not looking him in the eye.

"Are ya sure? 'Cause I mean, I can stick around fer a bit if you'd like," he said.

Trip was kicking himself, he sounded like some nervous teenager trying to ask for a kiss goodnight or something.

"Oh," she hesitated for a moment. "No, I think I'll be okay. I might call you tomorrow night though, if you don't mind," she said.

"Nah," he said. "Don't mind at all. See ya tomorrow afternoon then?"

"Yeah, don't mind us if we're running a little late," she said with a bit of a forced smile.

"I'll make sure that chef keeps things warm fer ya," he said.

A rather uncomfortable silence fell over the two.

"Well, anyways, I'll be seein' ya then," he said as he left. "Night Hosh," he called.

"Good night Trip," she said as she watched him leave. She felt a little bit of panic set in now that he was gone. "I can handle this," she muttered to herself as she turned around to get ready for bed herself.

PART 14

Hoshi put off the physical act of getting into bed as long as she possibly could, whether it was because she wanted to make sure Hallee was truly asleep or for other reasons, she wasn't sure. Eventually, her body threatened to collapse from exhaustion and she reluctantly crawled in next to Hallee and fell asleep a few moments later.

She woke a few times during the night because she wasn't used to sharing a bed. The few times Hallee did move she jolted awake, scared that she had rolled onto her or that something else had happened. Sato soon gave up on the bed with a sigh and moved out to the couch. Sure, it was small and a little lumpy but it was closer to the size of the bunk that she had become accustom to and she soon fell asleep again that night, hoping for a rather dreamless sleep.

_As Hoshi climbed the tree, she could see the ground getting farther away and was nearly at the top. She smiled. There had always been something about trees with her. For some a mountain was there for them to climb, for Hoshi it was trees. If there was a tree, she'd try to climb it and this one was perfect. All the branches were large and steady and just the right width apart to make the climb challenging, but not dangerous. That was until her sleeve snagged on something. She pulled her arm, hoping to dislodge her shirt, but it was just pulled back even harder. She finally gave her arm one mighty pull and she lost her balance. She smiled as she fell, enjoying the sensation of the wind around her. _

And then she woke up. She quickly rolled back the other way to keep from falling off the couch and once she was sure she wasn't falling anymore, she turned to find a pair of green eyes staring at her in the darkness. She jumped and gave a little shout and the eyes did the same thing and they quickly turned away and ran to the other room. Hoshi's sleep deprived brain slowly put together what had just happened as she caught her breath.

"Oh," Sato got out when she put it all together.

"Hallee," she called out as she got up, tripping in the blankets and tumbling to the floor. She quickly untangled herself and kept on her way to the bedroom where all she found was a lump hiding under the blankets. "Come on out Hallee," Hoshi coaxed as she sat down on the bed and tried to find an open corner of the blanket to peak under.

"No," a muffle voice replied.

"Why not? It must be pretty stuffy under there," she commented.

"You yelled," she got out with a sniffle, still not sure of her place.

"You just surprised me. I'm not used to sharing quarters with a kid."

"You didn't sleep in the bed," Hallee got out. "I couldn't figure out where I was and I couldn't find you and then I did and you yelled and . . .and . . . ." she got out as she finally stuck her head out from under the covers.

The poor ensign sighed.

"I tried to stay in the bed and couldn't fall asleep. I thought you'd still be asleep when I got up," she said.

"I wasn't tired anymore." Hoshi yawned, she sure was. She looked at a clock; it was early, far too early to be up.

"Well, how about this," Hoshi said as she dug up some old music disk of hers with all the mushy slow music on it and she turned it on. "You listen, I'll lie here," she suggested.

Hallee seemed okay with that, so that's what they did.


	3. Chapter 3

-1 

Part 15

"I guess by the looks of things, Hoshi isn't going to be gracing us with her presence," Archer said as he glanced around his bridge twenty minutes into the shift. 

"Perhaps it would be advisable to contact the ensign to confirm that," T'Pol said.

"I'll check on'em. I need ta go back ta engineerin' anyways," Trip volunteered.

He and Jon locked eyes for a moment and Trip noticed a mischievous glint in the Captain's eyes.

"Go on then," Archer prompted and Trip left.

The commander broke into Sato's quarters again for the second time in twenty four hours and waited a moment for his eyes to adjust to the dark. He had to work at not laughing when he heard the music that was playing but he succeeded in not making a sound. He crept around until he found the two, both still asleep and he let a crooked smile break loose on his face. He turned off the music and threw a blanket over them before leaving again.

"Tucker to Archer," Trip called up to the bridge as soon as he was out of Hoshi's quarters.

"Go ahead Trip," he said.

"I can tell you fer certain that Hoshi won't be comin' to the bridge any time soon, sir," he said with a bit of a smile.

"Everything alright down there?"

"Fine sir," Trip said, hoping for no more questions.

There was a pause as Archer thought about reasons why Hoshi wouldn't be coming and figured it out quickly. 

"Thanks Trip," he said. "Bridge out." 

Trip sighed as he headed back to engineering and realized that he was gonna have that stupid song that was playing stuck in his head all day.

"Hoshi? Hoshi!" Hallee called from the other room. 

"What?" she asked as she rolled over in bed, enjoying the warmth.

"Why is it still night out side?" she asked, her face pressed to the glass.

"It's always night out here."

"Oh. Are we up in Alaska then?" Hallee asked.

She had read, well been read, that it was night all the time in the winter in Alaska.

"Alaska?" Hoshi asked as she sat up. "We're not in Alaska."

"Oh. Then where are we?"

"In space, on _Enterprise_," she said as she got up. Hallee took a moment to process this.

"I don't wanna be here any more!" she wailed as she ran and grabbed onto Hoshi. "We need to go back!"

"Hallee, I told you, we don't know how to get you back yet."

"No! We need to go to your home! I don't wanna be on a space ship! I don't wanna be blowed up!" she wailed.

"Hey, we're not going to blow up. Nothing's gonna happen," she tried to convince Hallee.

"It will! I saw it! I saw it on TV! I saw the _Columbia_ get blowed up! We're gonna get blowed up too!" she said, starting to become hysterical.

Hoshi wrapped her arms around the poor kid as she tried to figure out what she was going on about.

"Don't forget to breathe," Ensign Sato said as she processed things over and she couldn't think of anything. "I think we better go see Captain Archer a little early," Hoshi said as she let go of Hallee and got up.

"You can't leave me!"

"Get dressed, you'll be fine, I'll be right back," she assured Hallee as she gave her the only clothes that fit her and pushed her back towards the bedroom.

While she was getting ready as well, Sato ran a search in the computer system for something that would help her out with this _Columbia_ blowing up.

"Hallee, we're not going to blow up," she said after she had read about the space craft that had exploded on re-entry in the early 21st century.

"Yes we are!" she called.

"No we're not. _Enterprise_ is a lot better than the _Columbia_ was. Besides, we've got Trip, he'll make sure we don't blow up." Silence filled the quarters for a while.

"I don't believe you!"

"Well, let's go talk to Trip then," she said as she shut off the screen and stood up.

Hallee sighed and stomped over to Hoshi, still not believing a word she said. Hallee couldn't get the images of the _Columbia_ blowing up out of her head and nothing Hoshi would tell her would change her mind about their safety.

T'Pol raised an eyebrow in surprise as she entered the captain's private dining room. She found Captain Archer patiently explaining something to Hallee as she sat on his lap. Ensign Sato was listening to the Captain as she scratched Porthos, who was sitting on her lap. 

"Is Trip gonna tell me the same thing about not being blowed up?" Hallee asked.

"Maybe not the exact same thing, but it will be pretty close," Archer told her as he shut off the computer screen.

"Oh," she said as she thought about what he had told her.

Hallee slid off of Archer knee when she saw T'Pol and hasty ran over to Hoshi. Porthos jumped down in surprise and sat himself by Hallee, his new favorite person, right after Jon.

"You're early T'Pol," Archer commented as he stood.

"I can return at a more appropriate time if you wish," she said.

"No, no, now is fine," he said as he came over to the table. "Go ahead and stay with her," he told Porthos who stood, but hesitated to leave Hallee.

Porthos sat back down and wagged his tail after hearing Jon.

"And here I was worried 'bout bein' too early," Trip said as he slid into the room. 

Commander Tucker ruffled Hallee's hair as he walked past her to his seat.

"Hey!" she said as she gave him a push on his way by before brushing her hair back out of her face with her hands.

Hallee sighed and found her seat and picked up the menu, hoping to see something she recognized as Porthos took his place at her feet, hoping that there would be under the table hand outs for him.

"I don't know what any of this is," Hallee whispered to Hoshi after she had stared at the menu for a while.

None of the words on the menu jumped out at her. 

"What do you usually have for lunch?" she asked. 

"I don't want a sandwich." Hoshi looked at her for a minute.

"Then what do you want?"

"I can have anything?"

"No candy, cake, cookies or other junk food," Trip called, having heard this trap.

"Or chocolate," Archer threw in.

Hallee sunk into her chair a little when Archer spoke. He was an okay guy, but she wasn't sure how to act around T'Pol yet. Hallee got up on her knees and whispered to Hoshi.

"Well, order that then," she said. 

"Really?"

"Why not?" Hoshi asked. 

Hallee thought about that for a minute.

"Yeah, why not?" she said as she sat back down.

"Yummy," Hallee gleefully replied when the food was delivered.

She wasn't sure about some of the things people had ordered, but she was happy with her?s.

"How can ya eat that?" Trip asked her with a smile.

"I was gonna ask you the same thing," Hallee replied after looking at his plate.

Everyone but T'Pol laughed. When lunch was over, the questions started. Hallee answered as best she could, but soon had enough.

"I . . .I don't know! I just don't know! I don't want to do this anymore! I wanna go home!" she wailed when had enough.

The questions were being asked too hasty and she didn't know the answers anymore. Archer and T'Pol stopped after Hallee's outburst. Porthos stood up and jumped on her chair with her. 

"I wanna go," she told Hoshi as she looked at her. 

"Hallee?"

"I WANNA GO NOW!" the young girl shrieked.

"Come on then," Trip said as he stood and walked over to Hallee, taking her hand. "We'll be back in a bit," he said as he led her out of the room.

When they had left, Trip asked her, "What was that all about?" 

Hallee wiped her nose on her sleeve.

"There were too many questions! I didn't know the answers and they just kept askin'," she moaned.

She sniffled and looked up at him. "I'm not in trouble am I?" she asked.

"Well, maybe a bit fer the yellin'," he said.

"I didn't know how else to make 'em listen to me," she said as she stopped, Porthos by her side. Trip stopped too and bent down to her level.

"Well, we're gonna have to work on makin' you heard, aren't we?"

"Yellin' works fine at home. I'm the smallest, I have to be the loudest," she told him, Trip laughed. "It's not funny!" she told him, hands on her hips. Porthos barked in agreement with Hallee.

"Alright, alright," he said in defeat. "Well, do you wanna go back and say yer sorry for yellin' or go fer a walk?" She sighed. 

"Go for a walk," the girl answered and took Trip's hand in her's.

An uncomfortable silence fell over the remaining dinners after Trip had led Hallee out of the room with Porthos on her heels. Archer cleared his throat a little and Hoshi shifted nervously in her seat, her face definitely a few shades darker than usual. T'Pol sat in her place looking as calm and collected as ever.

"There was no need for an out burst like that," T'Pol commented. "It was highly?

"Irrational and illogical?" Archer asked.

"Precisely," T'Pol responded as she quirked an eye brow.

"That's how children are, especially the little ones. Relax Hoshi," Archer told her as he looked over at her.

Sato looked at him and began to offer an apology. "Don't worry about it. The smaller kids are, the louder they tent to be out of necessity, particularly when they're the youngest," Archer finished.

Hoshi smiled a little, remembering a friend of hers who was always yelling to be heard over her brothers. 

"Interesting," T'Pol remarked.

"Well, kids are never boring at least," he said.

Sato and Archer chuckled. Then the door opened and Porthos bounded in.

"Go on then," they heard Trip say.

"No, and you can't make me!" a little girl screamed.

"Wanna bet?" Trip asked.

A few moments later, Trip came in carrying the girl like a sack of potatoes. He looked serious.

"I can too," he informed her.

Hallee glared at him before shuffling her feet and getting out a mumbled apology. Sato tried not to laugh as she watched the show. Trip smiled, satisfied with the apology, before sitting and having a drink.

The young girl sighed and climbed into her chair, fully expecting the questions to start again.

"Well," Jon started before T'Pol could. "I think I've had enough questions for a while." 

Hallee looked up at him, surprised to hear that.

"Well, maybe one more," he said with a smile. "Have you ever seen a game of water polo?"

"What?" Hallee asked. 

"If you wouldn't mind me borrowing her for a bit?" Archer asked, a new plan already forming.

"Go ahead," Hoshi said. "As long as you want to go," she told Hallee. 

"Yeah, let's go," she said as she slid out of her chair. "Come on Porthos," she called.

The little beagle stretched before heading over to her and stopping at her side. The two looked at Jon before he got up.

"I guess we'll see you all later," he said as he led Hallee to his quarters to use water polo as a distraction to get some answers.

"Thank you, so much," Hoshi told Trip after everyone had left. "I thought I was going to die."

"Why? Cause some kid had a temper tantrum?" Trip asked. She laughed as she thought about it.

"I guess not, but still, in front of the captain and T'Pol? I think I felt my heart stop!" He laughed. She was so melodramatic when she wanted to be.  
"It's not funny," she said.

"Sure it is!" Tucker explained. "Yer all mortified 'cause some kid you barely know yelled at yer commandin' officer."

Sato looked at him, not getting the point.

"What Hallee does has nothin' to do with you Hoshi," he said. "She hasn't even been here for a day yet."

Hoshi sighed as she and Trip parted ways. She hated it when he was right.

"Are you bored?" an exasperated Arched asked Hallee when he noticed she was giggling and playing with Porthos more than she was listening to him.

"Ummm . . ."she said as she looked up at him. "Maybe a little." 

He sighed. He hadn't gotten many answers out of her.

"Well, I think Porthos is bored, too." Porthos jumped up and barked, heading for the door. "How does a walk sound?" he asked the two of them.

"Yeah!" said Hallee as she jumped up. Porthos barked again and wagged his tail.

Jon sighed; not only did he have an ornery puppy to deal with, he now had a 4-year-old that was completely in sync with this ornery puppy. 

"Well, go on then," he said as he opened the door. Porthos took off like a shot, Hallee took off after the dog with a shriek and a sighing Archer jogged after them

"Oof!" Hallee said as she tripped over Porthos when he came to a stop suddenly. She looked up and saw some one she hadn't met yet and he didn't look happy to see her. She swallowed hard as she stood up quickly and turned to go the other way, running into the captain as she did so. She stayed behind him once he came to a stop.

"Malcolm," Archer said as he looked at him.

"Sir," he said as he took one more glance at Hallee, who was keeping an eye on him from behind Archer's legs. "The reports you wanted," he said as he handed the PADDs to him. Archer thanked him and asked if there was anything else.  
"Actually, I'd just like to remind you about the policy towards running in the hallways."

"Oops," Hallee said from her hiding spot, knowing it was hers and Porthos' fault for running.

"I'll keep that in mind," Archer said.

"Thank you, sir," Reed said as he turned on his heel and left, throwing one last backwards glance towards the little redhead who kept peaking out at him.

After the encounter with Reed, Archer quickly led Porthos and Hallee to an empty cargo bay. "Have fun," he told her as he handed her a ball he kept in here for Porthos.  
"Come on Porthos!" she called as she started running to the far end of the bay.

Dinner went better for both Hallee and Hoshi that night. With Trip there to keep Hallee laughing, she actually ate most of her meal and Hoshi had time to regroup her patience and courage in preparation for bed time.

Feeling that she had been asked a question, she asked, "What?"

"When do we get to watch movies again?" Hallee asked.

"Next Tuesday," she said, wondering what they're supply of G rated movies looked like. 

"Oh. Tuesday's the only movie night?" she asked as she finished off her hot dog.

"Yeah," Hoshi said, still distracted by her thoughts.

Hallee and Trip snickered a bit. She looked at the two.

"I'll be right back," she said as she got up and left the table.

Hallee watched her go before taking a look around the mess deck.

"It's him again," Hallee whispered when she saw Malcolm walk in.

"Who?" Trip asked.

"Him," she said as she pointed. "I don't think he likes me."

"Ah, who wouldn't like you darlin'?" Trip asked.

"Him!" she said a little more forcefully as she pointed one last time.

"Malcolm? He's not a bad guy," Tucker told her.

"He caught me an' Porthos runnin' in the hallway and I tripped over Porthos when he stopped real fast," Hallee said.

She lowered her voice for the end part. No one wanted to admit that they had tripped over a dog, especially when you were four. Trip laughed but regained his composure in when Hallee shot him a look.

"Wanna say hello?" he asked.

"No!" Hallee said quickly, horrified at the idea.

It was too late though, Tucker had already called him over. While the two men talked, Hallee looked around for Hoshi to take her home but she couldn't find her. Hallee spotted her talking to some officer she didn't know. The little girl decided that there were too many people between her and Hoshi and she wouldn't risk trying to get over there, so she just started to shrink down in her chair.

"Where are you goin'?" Trip asked her when he noticed she was starting to disappear.

"Nowhere," she sighed as she sat up again.

"Lieutenant Reed, meet Hallee. Hallee, meet Lieutenant Reed," Trip said.

Malcolm and Hallee just looked at each other.

"Hi," she finally said.

"Hello," he said.

The two looked intently at each other for a while.

"I'll try to remember not to run in the hall ways any more. Unless it's super important," she told him.

"That's a good plan," Reed told her. "If you two will excuse me," he said as he left to go get his own diner. Hallee watched him go.

"Bye!" she called.

"He still doesn't like me," she said to Trip as she sat down again. Trip just smiled and shook his head. 

In a darkened room on a ship, an alien slammed his fist into a console. "Where is the child?" he demanded. "She should have arrived by now!"

The other in the room shrunk away from the commander. It would be his life if they did not find the child, a human girl, soon. He had calculated the location to a continent on an uninhabited planet and the time to with in a few days.

"I am unsure," he got out when he saw the eyes turn on him. "She should be here. I reviewed the calculations numerous times before I even presented the idea to you," he said, trying to stay alive.

The commander smashed around the room before he clamed down.

"We will wait a little longer. Even with the technology we have, time travel is imprecise," he said as he turned to leave the room. "Go over the calculations again and be certain of the location and time, Nionim. I am not a patient man," he said as he continued on his way out of the room.

Noinim let out a breath he had been holding. The two of them had been working on this for a long time and many lives had been lost to gain the information from the Humans about this child's arrival and the secrets her cells held. Many more had been lost trying to secure the technology to change the events of her disappearance to suit their needs.


	4. Chapter 4

-1   
"Clear those bodies off the deck!" Captain Daniels called as he kicked the Suliban corpses out of the way. "What were they after?" he asked.

"I don't know, but they took co-ordinates," Lt. Shelly called out. "Dates, places, and a temporal calculation alga-rhythm," she said as he came and looked over her shoulder.

"Damnit!" he said as he realized what the missing data was. "Mitchell, get Starfleet! Smith, get a team together, I want to know how and where these guys came from. Shelley, try to figure out what they're going to change. Tamas, figure out where they went," he said as he went into his ready room to talk to Starfleet about things.

He sighed as he looked around at the mess that had been made. The Suliban had landed in his ready room first and made a mess before storming the bridge. 

"Daniels, this better be good," Admiral Tucker said as he stared at him through the screen.

"Sir, we just had a battle with a large group of Suliban on my bridge," he said.

"What? How?" Tucker asked.

"We're working on that now sir," Daniels said. "They did manage to break the encryption codes to gather enough data to calculate and alter a critical temporal occurrence."

"How critical of an occurrence is it?" Tucker asked as he leaned closer to the screen, his blue eyes studying Daniels carefully. 

"The Hallee incident," he said.

Tucker sat back and closed his eyes for a moment.

"Get to Earth as soon as possible Captain," he said. "I very much like the way things have turned out for me," he said as he ended the conversation.

Daniels relayed the orders to the bridge and took a moment to collect himself. He liked the way things had turned out too.

There were more tears tonight and no Trip to save her. There had been some kind of cascade failure in the warp engines, so he was busy fixing that. Hoshi had worked out something that looked like a deal with Hallee. She could do what ever she wanted until she fell asleep or 11 o'clock came, whatever happened first.

Hoshi sat, curled up on a couch in a pair of sweat pants and a top; half heartedly working on translating the last alien language they had run into. Hallee had been colouring the last time she had checked on her. In between the colouring and picking a new colour, the few sobs that escaped were not lost on Hoshi. She felt the panic and the homesickness of her own floating and getting a tighter grip on her every sob she heard. She found herself listening to the small child in the other room instead of doing her work.

After a while, Sato realized that it was quiet and had been for a while now. She put the PADD down on the cushion beside her and unfolded slowly as she stood up to check on Hallee. She paused in the door way when she saw her curled up over what she had been working on. She gathered the sleeping form from the chair and laid her carefully onto the cot that Hallee and Trip had decided she liked and tucked her in carefully. 

Then Hoshi went back to her PADD but she still felt bothered by something. Normally, she would just get up and go for a walk, but that was out of the question now. As she kept searching for a solution, she remembered that they were still in range of the last subspace beacon that had been deployed and that the captain had given her permission to use it at will to send linguistic data back to earth. She quickly gathered some of the completed data and sent that off before making a more personal call.

"Momma," she said on a shaky breath when she saw the older woman appear on the screen.

Hoshi's mother smiled at her and Hoshi quickly began to pour out her troubles and stories to her mother as the tears finally spilled over.

Admiral Garret Tucker entered his quiet, darkened house slowly in the hopes of not waking any one up. He paused when he saw the fire going and crept silently into the room.

"What's this now?" he asked his wife when he saw her sitting in her favourite chair.

"And you," he said to the little girl on the couch. "I would have thought anyone by the name of Hallee Tucker would have been in bed by now," he said with a smile to his grand daughter. She yawned and looked up at him slowly.

"I can go now grampa," she said as she held her arms out to him.

He smiled as he picked her up and carried her up stairs and put her to bed. He glanced at an old picture on her night stand of his grandparents, how many greats that should be in front were long forgotten. He smiled as he picked out his long diluted Asian genes from the woman who had her arms wrapped around the blue eyed southerner that he retained most of his dominant featured from. 

"Charlie and Angie are at the hospital," Naomi, his wife, said when she found him in the room.

He smiled.

"At least you know their kids are Tuckers, they're both as unpredictable as ever," he said with a smile.

Hallee had taken on none of the traditional Tucker looks; no light hair, no fair skin, no blue eyes and absolutely no interest in machinery at all. She smiled. 

"You should take Starfleet up on their offer to let you have free reign over the data library some day," she said. 

"Why?" he asked. "All the kids know their story." She sighed.

Garret never did understand the importance of history.

"Because they're blood," she told him. "And think of all the new stories you'd have to tell Hallee and the New One. You'd never be accused of telling a story twice ever again," she reasoned.

He paused to think about this. He was getting the "Grampa, I already know this one!" from Hallee a lot these days. He stared at the picture a little more as he found him self seeing more and more of his little Button in Hoshi Sato.

"I'll ask them soon," he assured her. She smiled, satisfied for the moment and left to get ready for bed. "As soon as I make sure there is still going to be me," he muttered as he threw one last, long look at the picture before getting ready for bed himself.

"Well, hey there darlin'," Trip said as Hallee came over to him the next morning.

The little girl stopped short and wrinkled her nose up. Trip looked at her for a moment before smelling the sleeve of his uniform.

"Warp coolant," he told her.

"Sure it is," she answered from where she was standing.

Trip looked at her before moving closer. Hallee started to back up and he smiled at the cat and mouse game that was starting. They both started to move faster until Hallee was in an all out run. The two came to a quick stop as Malcolm turned away from the conversation he had been having with Hoshi. Tucker grabbed Hallee to make her stop running and to keep her from smashing into Reed. Tucker eyed Hoshi as he saw her hiding a smile behind her hand.

"It's all his fault!" Hallee said as she got herself free from Trip.

"He stinks and he was gonna get me," she explained as Hoshi picked her up.

Malcolm shifted his gaze from the red head to the blonde and back again. Trip smiled sheepishly and Hallee just giggled.

"What do you think?" he asked Hoshi. She shrugged and tried to hide the grin. "Well, you're a lot of help," he told her.

"Sorry Lieutenant," she said.

"I thought you said you weren't going to run unless it was super important," Malcolm said as he looked at Hallee.

"It was super important!" she protested. "He was gonna make me stinky like him!" the girl said as Hoshi smiled and Malcolm rolled his eyes.

"You stop running unless you're in a cargo bay with Porthos or in the gym," Malcolm told her as he pointed a finger at her.

"And you," he said to Trip. "You go shower."

"Yes sir," they both said, though Trip's answer was a little more sarcastic than Hallee's.

Hallee kept her eyes down as she saw Trip go one way and Malcolm go the other way. After Malcolm had disappeared around the corner, Trip came up behind Hoshi quickly and ruffled Hallee's hair.

"HEY!" she called to him as she took a swing that he easily ducked and started to move away. 

Hoshi turned around to see him slink off. She shook her head at him, but didn't say anything as she watched him disappear with a wink into the lift.

"He's bad," Hallee announced as she and Hoshi headed for the mess deck.

"He is," she agreed as she put Hallee back on the ground.

"Do you guys ever stop at a planet?" Hallee asked as they entered the hall.

She took a moment to look around at everyone who was in there.

"Sometimes," Hoshi said as she took her hand to keep her from getting left behind.

"How often is sometimes?"

"Not very often," she admitted as she gathered the food and spotted a table where Travis was sitting. 

"Oh," she said.

"You'll be the first to know when we do stop at one," Sato told her as Travis looked up at the two and offered them a seat.

"Stop at one what?" he asked as He and Hallee sized each other up.

"A planet," Hallee answered.

After she decided Travis was an okay guy she introduced herself, "I'm Hallee."

"I'm Travis."

"What do you do?" she asked as she had a drink.

"I fly the ship," he answered.

"Oh," she said. "Well, if you're down here, who's flying the ship now?"

"Somebody else is flying the ship. Don't worry," he said as he finished his own coffee.

"Oh, okay then," she said as she climbed up onto her knees so she could see over the table.

He smiled at her.

"You need a telephone book," he told her.

Hoshi just looked at them.

"I sit on two at home sometimes," she said with a bit of a frown. "I don't like being the littlest." 

Hoshi sighed as she watched the two go off into their little conversation and she was happy for the break. She took a moment to think back on the conversation she'd had with her mother last night and understood what she had meant by not trying to do it all. Sure, she had been given the responsibility, but the message in short was never to be afraid to pawn Hallee off on someone else for a while. The linguist could live with that and she was sure that Trip and now Travis would take her if she asked them. She sighed, she felt better about things now, a lot better.

"You did what?" Tucker asked a few weeks later as he ate dinner with Jon while they watched a water polo game.

"I had to tell Starfleet, Trip. She's been here for a couple of weeks and they had to be informed. We can't just keep gallivanting around the galaxy with a four year old on board," he reasoned with the engineer. Tucker sighed, he knew what his captain was saying was true, but he didn't like it at all.

"Yer not gonna make me tell Hoshi, are ya?" he asked.

"No, I'll do it," Archer said. He knew that something was happening between his engineer and his comm officer, even if they had yet to admit it. "Speaking of Hoshi," he said.

"What about 'er?" Trip asked around a mouthful of French fries.

"You two have gotten rather . . . Close over the last few weeks," he said.

Trip thought about that for a moment.

"I guess that's what happens when there's a kid involved," he said, not thinking much of the comment.

"Trip, the fraternization rules," Archer started.

"Wait a minute, you think? Me and 'er?" he laughed a little. "Nothin' like that is goin' on Jon."

Jonathon studied him for a moment.

"Hey, it's none of my business, just make sure it doesn't get in the way," he said as he turned back to his meal and the game. Trip chewed slowly as he turned back to the game as well. He had never really thought about Hoshi in that way before, but now that Archer had mentioned it . . . "And then they flied in and out of the all the wood in the bottom of the quidditch pitch trying to get the golden snitch without the bludger getting them and Malfoy kept slamming into Harry, trying to make him crash!" Hallee said excitedly as she described the Harry Potter book she and Hoshi had started to read to Malcolm.

"They flew in and out," he corrected.

She put her hands on her hips and glared at him.

"That's what I said!" 

"Sorry, love," he said. "Keep going." She sighed as she remembered where she was.

"Oh yeah. And then the bludger got Malfoy and he flew off his Nimbus 2001 and crashed and Harry went after the snitch and when he just about got it, the bludger went boom! Into his arm and broke it but then he finally got it with his other hand and fell off his broom and then Ron and Hermione came down from the stands and Hermione cast a spell to explode the crazy bludger!" she said as she acted out the scene to him.

He chuckled a little as he watched her exuberance.

"And then Gilderoy Lockhart, who's supposed to be the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher came down and was gonna use magic to fix Harry's arm, but instead he magiced all the bones right out of his arm!" she said as she bounced back over to him.

"And then what happened?" he asked.

"Umm. That's where we stopped last night," she said as she caught her breath. He nodded a little. "Well, I'm done now," she said as she ran off to play with Porthos again.

Malcolm smiled and shook his head before going back to his PADD as he sat in the empty cargo bay with Hallee and Porthos, waiting for either Trip or Hoshi to come back and get her. He looked over the PADD at her again and shook his head with a smile. After the last time he had caught her running in the hallway, Hallee's curiosity about Malcolm had been peaked and she had spent the next week trying to get him some where that she could talk to him, finally pestering him in the mess hall until he started to talk to her and that had been that.

"So, this is where you two have been hiding out," Hoshi said as she came into the bay.

Malcolm turned from his PADD to look at her.

"I heard you started to read her 'Harry Potter'," he said as he moved over on the bin he had been sitting on.

She laughed a little and sat down beside him.

"We needed something to do," she said with a shrug. "She loves the quidditch scenes the best."

"I know; I got a play by play of the enchanted bludger." They both laughed.

"What are you doing?" she called out to Hallee finally.

Porthos barked and ran over to Hoshi, as Hallee trailed behind him.

"Hi," she said breathlessly as she threw herself into Hoshi's arms.

"Hi," Sato answered as she brushed the sweaty hair off of Hallee's forehead. "Ready to go home?" she asked.

The little girl sighed.

"I guess," she said.

Porthos barked and wagged his tail. Entertaining a kid was hard work.

"I'll tell you more tomorrow, okay?" she said to Malcolm.

"I look forward to it, love," he said. Hallee smiled.

"Okay, we can go," she said to Hoshi.

"Are you going to get off me?" she thought about it for a moment.

"No," she said as she held her arms out.

"Thanks Malcolm," Hoshi said as she picked Hallee up. "Come on Porthos," she called as they left the bay.

Malcolm sighed a little as he watched them leave. He didn't know if it was Hallee or the fact that Hoshi was in charge of some one, but the young ensign had started to become more confident and exude the qualities he had always assumed she had in her. He sighed a little, happy that the fraternization rule was in place, but cursed it at the same time.

"I can't believe he told Starfleet?" Hoshi said to Trip after they had put Hallee to sleep.

"He had to, she's been here for a couple of weeks and they were gonna have to find out sooner or later."

"But why now? She's just getting used to things here, everyone is just getting used to her," Hoshi said as she crossed her arms over her chest as she leaned against the wall in the hallway outside of her quarters. "Nothing good will come of this," she finished.

Trip sighed as he leaned on the wall beside her.

"We still have a lot of time. We're in no hurry to get home," he told her. "Cap'n Archer said we'd take our time, there might even be a stop at Risa for everyone," Hoshi sighed. "Besides," Trip said. "We all know this tin can is no place for a kid," Tucker said as he pushed off the wall and turned to face her.

"That doesn't make it any easier," she muttered.

He sighed and looked up and down the hallway.

"Come on," he said as he pulled her into her quarters before wrapping his arms around her.

She stood for a moment before wrapping her arms around him. The two stood in silence for a moment before there was a rustle in the bed room and Hallee stumbled out, rubbing her eyes at the light. She walked over and wrapped her arms around Trip's leg. The two pulled away from each other and looked down at Hallee.

"I had a bad dream," she said with a little sniffle. "Can I have a drink of water?" she asked as she looked up.

"Sure thing darlin'," Trip said as he picked her up and carried her off to get a drink before checking the other room for monsters. 

Hoshi sighed as she watched them go. She never meant to get this attached to the little monster, but somewhere along the way, it had happened. She looked up as Trip came out of the bedroom.

"She's fine. Something about invisible men crawling on the walls," he said with a shake of his head.

Hoshi's brow furrowed as she looked at him.

"Invisible men crawling on the walls?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said. "Something wrong with that?" he asked.

"The Suliban can time travel," she muttered as he put things together.

Trip's eyes widened as he realized things as well. Hoshi hurried into the other room and scooped Hallee up in her arms.

"What's goin' on?" she asked with a yawn.

"We're just going to go for a little walk," Hoshi said as they trio left her quarters and headed to talk to Archer about things.

"What do you mean you lost her!" Silik called from the shadows of the room.

Noinim shrank away from him.

"We searched for her for months!" he yelled again.

"We. . . We didn't expect her to awaken," Noinim said quietly.

"You are far faster than the humans! You have technology that they have never dreamed of and you still couldn't capture the child?" Noinim stayed quiet. "Fool!" Silik boomed as he fired a shot that sliced through the air and hit Noinim in the chest.

He slumped to the ground silently as Silik stalked past him to find some one who could accomplish the mission.

"What do you mean there was a temporal incursion?" Garrett Tucker asked as he hurried to greet Daniels' ship as it docked.

"The Suliban, sir. They initiated a jump that lasted 3.2 minutes before returning," Daniels replied.

"Did they alter anything?"

"No sir," Tucker let out a breath that he had been holding.

"Why haven't you found them yet?" he demanded as he entered the ship and headed to the bridge.

"They have some kind of field that we can't get through. It falters only when they go to warp and if they initiate an incursion. By the time we have the coordinates marked, they're gone," Daniels explained.

Tucker sighed. He was almost ready to order a party to just go to Enterprise and bring Hallee back to the 29th century.

"Keep working on it," he said as he entered the bridge. "We need to find a way to track the Suliban. Daniels, your ready room," he said as he headed straight for it. Daniels followed on his heels. "I need answers Captain," he said as soon as the doors had closed.

"I don't have any Garrett," he said.

"I don't know how they got on to this ship in the first place," Daniels went on as he poured them both cups of coffee. "We have the most sophisticated security system in the fleet and they still got through! This is why the system was put in place, to prevent this event and it still happened!"

Tucker chuckled a little.

"You can't stop time, Andrew. And it seems that you can't change it either."

"Perhaps sir, we should assemble a small team, even just one individual and send them to Enterprise," Andrew said as he looked up from his cup. The admiral took a drink before looking at Daniels.

"I was thinking the same thing," he said. "Try not to find anyone that is related to the crew," he said. Andrew sighed as he ran through people on his crew.

"Maybe we should send a descendant. They'll understand what exactly is at stake."

"We can't contaminate the time line."

"Then send a really distantly related one. Lt. Archer?" he asked.

"Don't you think it will be a bit of a give away?" The two of them each knew what had happened during Enterprise's 4th year in space. 

Tucker looked at him. "Archer is a very common last name," he supplied.

"I'll send her with orders to let her human side through. And keep the ears covered."

"Why not just alter them?" Tucker asked.

"She may need to sway some votes in her favour. It would be better if she had something they could see right away if she has to give up her cover." 

"Fine," Tucker said after a moment. "Brief T'Lin and send her to me as soon as possible."

Tucker stood slowly as he put his cup down. "As soon as possible," he said again as he left the room and headed back to his office on the station.

T'Lin sat quietly in her quarters, bathed in the soft glow from the small flame in her meditation lamp. Though she was mostly human, the Vulcan in her DNA refused to be ignored and had made its presence known not only in her ears, but in her emotions as well. Though she allowed herself to show them occasionally, she generally kept them buried under a mask of cool Vulcan logic. She sighed as her meditation was interrupted by the door chime.

"Enter," she called as she blew out the light and gave Alex, her beagle, a pat on the head before rising to meet her guest.

"Lieutenant," Daniels said as he came in.

"Captain," she answered.

"How would you feel about going on a little away mission, T'Lin?" Daniels asked as he sat down and was greeted by the energetic puppy.

"What kind of away mission?" she questioned as she pulled Alex away from the Captain.

She had learned early on that it was not always a good idea to volunteer for Captain Daniels away missions. Daniels chuckled at Alex and T'Lin for a moment before explaining the mission.

"Wouldn't we be in violation the Temporal Prime Directive?" she asked as after she had thought about the mission for a moment.

He sighed.

"It's already been broken. Hallee appeared directly on the ship instead of on a planet. Because of that, there was no away team beamed to the surface, no battle in space with the Suliban and there are half a dozen other little events that never occured. I don't think sending you will really change things much more," he finished.

T'Lin scratched Alex behind the ears as she mulled things over.

"I'll be expected to be human?"

"Yes."

"Is surgery involved?"

"No. Admiral Tucker thinks it would be best to leave you the way you are, incase you need to show them what exactly is at stake in this future. Showing them your ears and quoting a few facts about them will be quicker than letting them run medical tests," he finished.

"Very well," she said. "When do I leave?"

"As soon as possible," he said as he stood up.

The beagle jumped off his master's lap and trotted over to the captain, looking for a quick pet, Daniels obliged and the puppy sat and wagged his tail.

"I'll find some one to watch the dog for you," the Captain said as he turned to let him self out. "Get your things together, pack light. I'll make sure there is a uniform, a communicator and a tricorder ready for you."

"What is wrong with what I have already been issued?" she asked as she stopped to look at him.

"You're going back to the 22nd century," he said with a small smile that grew when he saw the corners of her lips turn up ever so slightly and a very human twinkle appeared in her eye.

"Of course," she said as she turned on her heel.

Daniels laughed as he left her quarters to have the proper supplies replicated for her.


	5. Chapter 5

-1   
"You're sure you're ready?" the admiral asked Lieutenant Archer as she stood on the transporter pad.

"Of course," she said with a bit of a smile.

"Good luck then," he said. "Energize."

T'Lin held her breath as the transporter kicked in. She could swear she felt everything being taken apart. She just hoped that this contraption worked just as well when transporting through time as it did when transporting through an atmosphere. T'Lin moved around the ship quietly, trying to blend in as she tried to locate Hallee. She knew the lay out of the ship fairly well, but not well enough to be able to get around with out directions. That was something that was going to cause her problems. She knew Enterprise had the same crew as she did the day she left space dock and asking for directions would make her stick out like a sore thumb.

She quietly slipped into a set of empty crew quarters and accessed the computer system. She spent a moment glancing over official logs for what had been going on and found very little.

"Big surprise," she muttered to her self.

She quickly broke the encryptions on the personal logs and found what she was looking for. She gathered the information that she needed and logged herself out before slipping back into the hall way. She headed for the med bay, hoping to find the little girl that she was looking for. "Why does he have to be here?" Hallee whined to Hoshi about the security guard that was with them.

"Captain's orders," she answered.

"Why?"

"Because." 

"That's not a real answer," Hallee told her as she stopped walking.

"Come on, we're going to be late," Hoshi said as she stopped.

"I'm not moving until you tell me why!"

Sato sighed as she came over and picked Hallee up. They didn't have time for this. She had a bridge shift and Phlox was expecting Hallee.

"Tell me!"

"Fine. The invisible men crawling on the walls are real and they want to take you."

"You're lying," Hallee said, not believing that the monsters would ever really be real.

"I'm not. That's why there's always a security guard with you. That's why you can't play with Porthos in the cargo bays any more. That's why you can never go anywhere on your own any more," she said as they neared the med bay.

The little girl thought about this for a moment and decided she didn't like this at all.  
"This is why we didn't really say anything, we didn't want to scare you," she said as she sat her on a bio bed.

"I don't want you to go," she said quietly.

Hoshi picked her up and held her close for a moment, she felt sorry for Hallee. The little girl had been through so much since she had gotten there and the crew still didn't know where she came from. It was all a mystery. 

"You'll be fine. Lieutenant Groves is going to stay here and so is Dr. Phlox. I'll come and get you for lunch, okay?" she asked.

Hallee nodded as she sniffled and wiped her nose on her sleeve.

"Okay," Hoshi said as she put Hallee on the ground as Phlox came out to greet her.

She ran over to him quickly and took his hand, glancing back at Sato for a moment. She nodded and watched the two go off to tend to the animals before she left for the bridge, hoping that she wouldn't be turned into a liar.

"She knows," Hoshi told Trip as she walked past him on the way to her station.

His head shot up from the panel he was looking at and he looked at her.

"Whadda ya mean?" he asked as he followed her over, kneeling down to act like he was checking something on her panel.

"She asked about Groves and it just kind of came out."

"Things like that don't just come out Hoshi," he said as he stood up.

She looked at him, feeling the anger starting to boil in her. He didn't know what it was like having to look into those little eyes and lie all the time, he didn't have to spend all that time with her. She watched as he swallowed hard and started to back away.

"I think we should head down to engineering and see if we can't work this bug out. Don't you Commander?" she asked.

"Uh yeah, yeah that's a good idea," he said as he headed for the lift.

"I won't keep her all day," he told Archer as they headed for the lift.

Jon nodded and turned back to his PADD, not catching the vibe between the two. The silence and professionalism lasted until the doors to the lift closed.

"Things like that that do just come out!" she told him as she poked him in the chest. "It's hard to keep secrets day after day like that. You, you can get away from her and tell them to some one else and me? I'm stuck with her unless I'm on duty and I couldn't do it any more."

"Hosh," he started, raising his hands in defeat, backing away from her as much as she could.

Trip looked back when he bumped into the wall. Were things getting smaller in here? he wondered. Hoshi sighed and rested against the opposite wall of the lift and crossed her arms as she glared at him. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to formulate a reply or something but he couldn't. When the lift doors opened, she breezed out a head of him and around the corner before he had even gotten out of the lift.

Hallee wished she had never asked Hoshi why there was always some one following her around. She was nervous all the time, every little noise making her clutch at Phlox's hand and turn to see what was there. She wanted him to stop and do something sitting down so that she could sit for a while. She was sort of glad that he had gotten rid of Groves. He was kind of creepy, just standing around all the time. She wasn't really sure where he had gone, but he'd pop back into the med bay every once and a while. 

"How long until lunch?" she asked.

Hoshi would come at lunch and she could sit with her. Phlox looked at her for a moment.

"Are you hungry now?"

"No, I just wanna know," she said.

"Not for a while yet," he said as he let go of her hand again to tend to some animal or another.

Hallee sighed and leaned against him a little as she looked around the room. She was bored and tired of this now. She knew that she could go and colour or something else, but that meant having to go by herself.

Phlox watched her for a moment and listened to her sigh before finishing with the last animal. "Why don't we do something else now?" he asked. 

She looked at him for a moment.

"What would you like to do?" she thought for a moment before going to find some of the things that were kept in his desk just for her.

Hoshi wandered for a while. Letting her self cool off and re-evaluate what had happened between her and Trip before she went off to find him in Engineering. She almost wanted to smile when she saw him gulp a little when he saw her.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly as she came over to him. "I overreacted and let things get away from me."

"S'alright," he said with that smile. "I was just kinda expectin' that to happen when we weren't in a lift, when I had somewhere I could escape to." She smiled a little.

"I promised Hallee I'd get her for lunch," she told him. "Want to join us?"

"Are you propositioning me ensign?" the engineer asked.

"Oh yes, completely," Hoshi said with a wink.

"How can I refuse an offer like that?" he asked with a smile.

They laughed a little as they worked on something. Hoshi wasn't ready to back to the bridge yet and since Trip had already gotten her excused, she figured she should use the time for something.

"Security to the med deck! On the double!"

Hoshi and Trip's heads both snapped up at that.

"Jensen! Keep an eye on things down here!" he called as he headed to the lift. He grabbed Hoshi's hand to make sure she kept up with him.

By the time they got there, Archer was trying to talk to a semi-conscious Phlox as Liz Cutler buzzed around him, trying to help him out. Malcolm was yelling at Lt. Groves in another part of the med deck as he tried to explain that Phlox had told him to leave for a while and that he had only been out side. A few other security officers where talking about the burns on the wall from the phase pistol and debating if they could be used to help track the Suliban.

"Where is she?" Hoshi asked as she looked around.

She knew she was gone, but kept hopping that she was hiding some where.

"Hallee's gone, they got her," Archer said as he left Phlox's side and came over just as T'Pol came in.

A security team followed behind her with T'Lin in between them.

"Who are you?" Archer asked her.

T'Lin stayed quiet as she glanced around the room at that phase pistol burns on the wall, then to Phlox on the bed and finally to Hoshi and Trip. Malcolm came forward from the back of the room and drew his phase pistol training it on her.

"I believe you were asked a question," the captain said slowly. 

T'Lin hesitated and chewed on her bottom lip for a moment. 

"Archer," she finally got out. "Lt. Alexandria," she finished as she watched Archer look to the other officers in the room.

She looked to Malcolm when she heard the click of the phase pistol being adjusted.

"Try again," Reed said. "There are no other officers named Archer on this ship and there never have been."

She sighed.

"I can't."

"Sir?" Malcolm asked.

Archer looked at T'Lin for a long moment as he decided what to do.

"Take her to my ready room."

"Sir, I must. . . "

"Leave the security detail with us if you must, but bring her there," he kept looking at her.

There was something about T'Lin's face that he knew was familiar, but he couldn't place it. Malcolm sighed and sent the security team with T'Lin on they're way before glancing around the room and leaving with them.

Hoshi watched in disbelief as people started to leave the med bay already. Liz stuck around because Phlox was still on the bio bed, but Archer and T'Pol were off to talk to the new woman who had just appeared and the security team was leaving to work on simulations and soon, her and Trip were the only ones left standing. The linguist watched as everyone leave, and then she drew in a deep breath and held on to Trip's hand tighter.

"I suggest you start talking and you start now," Archer said as he came into his ready room and found T'Lin sitting calmly in a chair facing his desk.

"Just you and me," she said. "I have no hidden weapons, Lt. Reed has made sure of that." Archer looked to Malcolm and nodded.

"I'll be right outside, sir," he said as he and his detail left the room.

"Now then," Archer said. "If you wouldn't mind?"

"Where would you like to start?" T'Lin asked, watching the other Archer carefully.

"From the beginning. Who are you?"

"I told you. . . " 

"I don't believe you," he said.

The two stared at each other for a moment before she sighed.

"I am an Archer," she said quietly. "One of your descendants." 

The captain sat back for a moment, disbelieving.

"And what are you doing here?"

"Hallee was never supposed to see the inside of this ship let alone spend two weeks here," she told him, as she sat forward in her chair, ignoring his original question.

"And what was she supposed to see?"

"She was supposed to see Ensign Sato, Commander Tucker, Lt. Reed and Sub-Commander T'Pol."

"What do they want with her?" he asked after a moment, still trying to figure things all out.

"That, I can't tell you," she said as she reached a hand up subconsciously to tuck the hair behind her ear and she stopped, but not before he had seen what she had been hiding.

"You're not human," he said slowly.

He stood up quickly and spun her around in her chair before moving the hair away for himself. She closed her eyes for a moment, regrouping her Vulcan side.

"Archer. Lt. T'Lin," she said as she looked at him, deciding to spare him the trouble of asking. Admiral Tucker would understand.

"Vulcan," he muttered. "T'Pol's descendant too, right?" he asked turning to her.

She nodded.

He turned away from her to look out the window.

"Okay," he said slowly. Things had just gotten far more complicated than he would have liked them to have. "Maybe you should start from the beginning." She let out a very unVulcan sigh and he smiled a little as she started to tell him the whole story.

Hallee stayed still as her captor kept a firm hold on her with one arm around her waist and the other across her mouth. Her eyes darted around the new space, trying to figure out how she had gotten there and what was going to happen to her.

"No screaming now," a soft voice said as the hand over her mouth was removed. 

She stayed quiet as she was gently lowered to the ground. 

"I wanna go home!" she yelled immediately. The voice laughed.

"Of course you do," Silik said as he slowly came out of the shadows.

He walked over to her and circled her, slowly bringing a hand up to feel a lock of her hair. He smiled to himself.

"So soft," he commented. "You're a very pretty girl," he told Hallee as he bent down to look her in the face.

She sniffled, but didn't look away from him. He stood motioned for the guard to leave.

"Are you gonna let me go?" she asked quietly when she felt the guard move away from her.

"You're a very special little girl," he told her. "So special, that you're going to have to stay with me a little longer."

"How much longer do I have to stay?" she asked, inching away from him in fear.

"Oh, not long," he said with a creepy little smile that she picked up on.

"I wanna go home!" she yelled again, starting to cry. "I wanna go!"

"All in good time, Little One," he said. "How would you like something to eat?" he asked as some one stepped forward to offer her a plate of something.

"No!" she said as she pushed it away and made a run for it.

Silik snapped an arm out and grabbed her.

"Naughty girl," he told her as he handed her off to a guard who stepped foreward. "We don't tolerate behaviour like that."

The guard took her hand and found he had to pick her up and throw her over his shoulder to get her out of the room.

"I hate you! I wanna go home! I want Hoshi!" she yelled at the top of her lungs.

Silik laughed to himself as she left. She was spirited. This would be far more fun then he thought it would be. Trip looked around the med bay slowly as he watched people file out. In a few seconds, they were alone with Cutler and Phlox.

"Come on," Trip said quietly as he gave Hoshi's arm little tug. She looked around the room again before numbly allowing him to guide her. 

"She's gone," she whispered quietly after he had deposited her on the couch in his quarters.

Trip left her only to ask if either of them would be needed for a while. He came back over and sat beside her.

"We'll get her back," he told her as he wrapped his arms around her.

She let herself be gathered into his embrace and the two sat for a long while until she started to drift into a troubled sleep. He got up slowly and carried her to his bed.

"Don't leave me," she said sleepily as she held out a hand for him as he turned to leave. 

He debated for a moment before kicking his boots off and climbing in with her, wrapping his arms around her waist. She snuggled back against him and the two drifted off into silence again.

Hallee screamed to be let out of the cell until she had lost her voice. She sat in the corner farthest away from the door for a while, trying to decide what to do. The guards were still out side, she could hear them talking. It was good to know she wasn't all alone on this ship. She hugged her knees to her chest and waited for something to happen, anything to happen before drifting off to sleep for a while.

"Get up!" she woke with a start as she was roughly pulled to her feet a few hours later.

"Am I going home?" she asked sleepily as she rubbed at her eyes.

The men didn't answer her.

"Ow! Let go! You're hurting me!" she said as she tried to stop his hand from pulling at her arm. "Stop! It hurts!"

"Mitan! Are you deaf? Let her go," Silik said.

Mitan let go of her and slunk off to a corner.

"My apologies," he said quietly. 

"Can I go home yet? Please?" Hallee asked hopefully as she walked over to him.

He smiled.

"Not just yet," he told her. "I need your help with something." 

"What?" she asked, starting to step back a little every time she saw a face like that, she usually ended up in trouble afterwards.

"Why don't you come and have something to eat first?" he asked as he showed her the table.

"I'm not hungry," she told him as her stomach growled. "Traitor," she whispered to herself.

Silik smiled.

"Come, we spent a lot of time to prepare dishes you would like."

The little girl approached the table slowly as she looked over what was up there. None of it looked very appetizing.

"Never judge a book by it's cover," Silik reminded her as he handed her a spoon and pushed a dish towards her.

She tentatively took a small bit of the food and tried it.

"It tastes like hot dogs," she said as she looked at the bowl.

It was filled with what looked like purple mashed potatoes.

"That's good then?" she shrugged a little as she move around the table to try something new. This went on for a while until she was full. 

Silik showed her into another room where she found some things that looked like toys. She watched Silik for a moment. He was different from the others. She wasn't sure how to deal with him, but she was starting to trust him.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Silik," he told her. "And you are Hallee."

"How did you know my name?" she asked.

"I know many things about you," he answered. "Like now, you're tired, no?"

"Maybe a little," she whispered.

He walked over and picked her up, far more gently than the others had.

"Sir?" one of the men asked as he saw them together.

"Just a few more days Sila, then things will be ready," he said. "Until then, we must show our young guest the proper respect."

T'Lin stood out side of T'Pol's door for a moment, hesitating before she rang for entrance. Much to Malcolm's displeasure, Archer had decided that she wasn't a threat after the conversation and had given her free reign around the ship.

"Lieutenant," T'Pol said calmly as she answered the door.

"I trust I wasn't interrupting?" she asked calmly as she looked the Vulcan in the eye.

"Not at all," she answered.

"I was wondering if I could possibly borrow your meditation lamp for a while."

T'Pol arched an eye brow at her.

"The fire safety protocols will not allow it to be lit any where but here," she answered.

T'Lin felt her self sigh internally.

"That's fine," she answered. "Sorry to have disturbed you. Good evening Sub-Commander."

As the other Vulcan turned to leave, T'Pol watched her.

"Lieutenant," she called after her. Archer turned around. "I would not be opposed to you joining me."

"I would be honoured," she said as she returned.

T'Lin stood silently as T'Pol lit the lamp before joining her on the floor.

T'Lin closed her eyes and let herself drift for a while, just enjoying the quiet and the dark before focusing on keeping her Human side controlled and on top of her Vulcan side, at least for a little while longer. As she did this, her mind began to pull at old memories she was sure she had gotten over. There were children on the play ground making fun of her for acting Vulcan and then others making fun for being human with Vulcan ears and she paused on that thought. How odd to have a job that required her to be what she had always longed for. She had always wanted to be human, to please her father but at the same time, had wanted to please her mother by showing the appropriate control. Her parents had compromised on her siblings; they would practice meditating, but strict emotional control wouldn't be required. When they had decided this, she had been too old to simply keep things under control with meditation. That had always been something that had given her trouble. She shook the thoughts from her consciousness and went back to corralling her mental discipline and finding a happy medium between the two.

"Captain Archer's behaviour has been erratic the past few hours," T'Pol commented when they were done. T'Lin glanced at her.

"Having a mysterious person appear on your ship would alter any person's behaviour," she commented simply. 

T'Pol nodded.

"There is something else though; something specific when he is in proximity to me." T'Lin closed her eyes for a moment and let a sigh loose. "You know what is transpiring?"

"Perhaps," T'Lin said.

"You're lying."

"Exaggerating the truth," she specified. "It is complicated."

"Enlighten me," she said calmly as she put her cup down on the table.

"I told Captain Archer several details about myself that I most likely shouldn't have. They have no doubt changed the events that will subsequently lead to my conception and birth. Not to mention the fact that I've broken the temporal prime directive enough to get myself court marshalled many times over."

T'Pol looked at her. 

"Which events are these?"

T'Lin sighed as she mentally kicked herself. She paused for a moment before telling T'Pol what she had told Archer.

Hoshi woke up slowly before feeling reality set in around her. Hallee was gone, captured by the Suliban and no one had any answers for her. She sighed as she glanced out the window for a moment and watched the stars streaking by before looking to the foot of the bed to realize these weren't her quarters. She paused for a moment and felt the arm thrown over her waist and looked hind her. Trip snoring lightly behind her and when she moved, he tightened his grip on her slightly. She smiled a little and relaxed into him. At least some one hadn't forgotten about her.

She knew she shouldn't be wallowing right now, she should be helping to find Hallee, but she didn't really care. She wanted some one else to worry about the big picture while she focused on how she felt for once. Then again, she'd really like some one to worry about her and as she thought about that, she decided that had already happened, because why else would he have stayed after she had called out to him sleepily. She liked this feeling. It had been a long time since some one had stayed because they were worried about her feelings. She rolled over and stared at him for a moment, just taking everything in. Her memorization was interrupted when he woke up.

"Hey," he said slowly as he brought a hand up to rub at his eyes. "How ya feelin'?" he asked.

She shrugged a little as she continued to stare at him.

"Okay then," he said as he stared back at her. 

She brought a hand up to run it over the side of his and he watched her carefully for a moment before he brushed some stray hair from her face. The two stayed quiet and still for a moment before he finally gave in and made the first move, kissing her softly, waiting for her to push him away.


	6. Chapter 6

-1

"I don't understand why he continues to delay," Sila said to Mitan as the two sat in the communal room on the ship. 

"Silik knows what he is doing," the other man answered simply.

"How can you be so sure? He dotes on that child like she is a new toy!" Mitan laughed.

"Not a new toy, a pet Sila. She has something he wants and in a few days, it will reach it's peak." Sila looked at Mitan and threw his hands in the air.

"I don't understand!"

"That is why I am of a higher rank than you," he said simply. "If he gains the child's trust, he can gain valuable information about the Enterprise , Archer and the other crew. Besides, it will be easier to extract the particles if she is relaxed around him. She will do as he asks more readily."

Sila stopped pacing and sat for a moment, mulling this over in his head. He could see the point now.

"I understand," he said calmly ad he stood.

"Where are you going now?"

"To apologize to Silik for ever doubting him or his plans for the child." Mitan watched him go.

The impulsiveness of the youth on this ship was amusing at times, but it was also a constant reminder of what the Suliban Empire was being reduced to in this war. That young girl that was with Silik was the last hope they had to win the temporal war.

T'Pol sat quietly while T'Lin told her the whole story, occasionally giving her more details than she had given the elder Archer.

"What are the circumstances that lead to all this?" she asked.

T'Lin opened her mouth, but shut it quickly before starting again. "I do not believe that it would be prudent to tell you."

"I understand," she answered in return.

"It's late, I should go," T'Lin said as she put her cup on the coffee table and made a move to get up.

"Do you wish to leave?" T'Pol asked her. T'Lin hesitated. She didn't want to, but she knew she should. "I will take your hesitation as a no."

"I was supposed to return to Vulcan a few days after the mission was launched. It is difficult, trying to keep everything in check, but letting it through at the same time," she said as she sat back down on the floor, pulling her knees to her chest as T'Pol studied her carefully.

She was nothing more than a child, as far as emotional control went and she could understand what she must be feeling.

T'Lin continued, "And now there are all these secrets that I have to keep and I got here too late on top of everything! I was supposed to get here, find Hallee in sick bay and take her home."

The Vulcan watched her for a second; pulse and respiration had increased, as had random movements. She moved towards T'Lin slowly before gently placing her fingers on the young woman's face.

"Concentrate," she said softly as she initiated a small mental bond. The two let their minds link briefly, T'Pol lending some of her closely guarded control to T'Lin before pulling back. Two sets of identical brown eyes looked on each other for a moment and more was said in that minute than ever could have been spoken.

Trip and Hoshi broke apart only when their bodies started to demand oxygen. He rested his forehead gently against hers as they tried to catch their breath.

They stayed quiet as Hoshi pushed slightly away and looked at him. He opened his mouth to say something and she placed a finger over it while she continued to stare. She got up off the bed; eyes still locked with his, and kicked off her boots. Next to go was her jumpsuit. Trip froze in place as Hoshi unzipped her uniform, slipping out of it before coming back to the bed and him.

"Please," she said as she kissed him once more. He pushed away from her slightly.

"We shouldn't do this," he told her.

"I don't really care."

"Hoshi," he tried to reason with her again as her hands made progress on his uniform.

"Please Charlie . . . No regrets, I swear," she told him as she kissed him again, her passion slowly breaking down his will until he was responding equally to everything she was giving him. "Any progress?" Archer asked Reed as he came onto the bridge. 

"None, Sir," Reed said, not bothering to look up as he continued to work at his panel. "They left nothing to trace them by."

Jonathon sighed as he glanced over the shoulder of Lt. Greeson who was manning science station at the moment. There was nothing in those readings, either.

"Start scanning for any Suliban energy signatures, their ships, anything. I want to find them and I want to find them now," he said as he headed to his readyroom.

Porthos looked up at Jon and hopefully as his master walked through the door. He missed his playmate.

"We haven't found her yet, Porthos," he said. The little dog got up and wandered over to Jon, sitting quietly at his feet and wagging his tail a little. The captain sighed and patted his lap. The little beagle jumped up and lay down, sighing a little as Jon started to pet him. The two stared out at the stars as they waited for news. "Thank you," T'Lin finally said, looking away as a small blush spread  
against her face. She didn't like being this uncontrolled around Vulcans.

"You have remarkable control for some one so young," T'Pol answered. 

"Thank you," she said. Silence fell over the two again.

"Did you learn anything I didn't tell you?" T'Lin asked after a moment.

"I learned that when you were three, you were afraid of the dark. You have two younger brothers and a younger sister, and you resent your parents somewhat for changing their views of mental discipline with your siblings," she answered simply, allowing a small smile to briefly make an appearance.

"As long as that's all you know." 

"You have a beagle, Alex," she added.

"Some Archer traditions never change," T'Lin said with a shrug.

Commander Trip Tucker III lay awake in the dark, trying to rationalize what he had just let happen. What a commanding officer had let happen between him and an ensign

He could have left, he could have walked away and he could have done anything but give in. Yet, here he was, lying naked in Hoshi's bed with an equally naked Hoshi curled into his side, fast asleep.

He turned his head to the side and stared out the window, letting go a soft sigh. She had promised him no regrets, but he was already regretting the fact that it had happened. He also was deeply regretting his lack of self-control. Trip allowed himself the luxury of playing with the ends of Hoshi's hair as he tried to find away out of the mess he had let himself fall into. Actually, at the mess they had both let themselves fall into.

He grew still as he felt her stir, not ready to deal with the inevitable awkwardness, hoping she'd fall back to sleep. When she didn't, he feigned sleep.

"Charlie?" she asked quietly. When she got no answer, Hoshi grabbed one of the sheets and wrapped it around herself as she slid out of bed and headed for the bathroom. Her mind reeled, trying to sort out what she had done.

She turned on the shower, climbing in soon after to let the water pound down on her. She had seduced a superior officer, her friend no less and why? That was the question she couldn't, or wouldn't, answer. She couldn't find a real, tangible reason for why she had initiated that little . . .horizontal rumba.

"Oh Hoshi, what have you done?" she asked herself as she rested her forehead against the cool shower wall.

Trip let go a sigh of relief when he heard the shower start, and he lay for a moment longer, trying to decide if he wanted to be there when she got out. 

He decided he didn't, and quickly dressed, leaving a scribbled note saying he was sorry and would be in engineering if she needed to talk.

The doors closed behind him just as the water shut off and silence took over; regret hanging heavily in the air.   
T'Lin left T'Pol's quarters shortly after the mind meld and headed to her assigned quarters. All she could do was imagine the seven different kinds of hell she was going to be in when Admiral Tucker found out how much she had told them.

She also knew that there would be eight kinds of hell coming her way from her mother, but she figured it was worth it.

It wasn't every day that you got to meet you great, great, great, great grandparents and be the only one who knew what was really going on. She hated lying. Then she reminded herself that she wasn't lying, she was omitting specific details.

She sighed as she entered her quarters and no happy little dog came racing out to greet her. T'Lin pulled out her tricorder and sat down at the deck in the room, popping the cover off and starting to manipulate the circuits to send a signal to Daniels and Tucker, 700 years in the future.

The quality of the signal was surprisingly high as far as she was concerned, but lasted only long enough for them to get a fix on her location and beam over some more up-to-date information and tracking tools.

She hesitated as she set up the communication station, not looking forward to having to explain that she didn't have Hallee.

"I'm not procrastinating," she thought to herself. "I'm giving myself ample time to consider my options." T'Lin considered her options up until the very moment the panel sprung to life on its own. Tucker, having grown impatient, had contacted her first.

"Report Lieutenant," he said. She took a moment to compose herself. 

"She's not here sir. We missed her by moments, and then Lt. Reed apprehended me. "

"Consequences?" he asked as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"My phaser has been confiscated, but I have gained Captain Archer and Sub-Commander T'Pol's trust to a degree."

Tucker stared at her for a moment.

"I informed them of as much as I possibly could."

Tucker swore and slammed around his office in a fit of frustration. He had been hoping that she would be able to give them information as warranted, not give them the whole story all at once.

T'Lin watched him as she clung to her Vulcan control, trying not to give in and join him in acting out his frustration.

"Sir?" she called.

"What?" he asked, not happy to be hearing from her so soon.

"They will allow me to have more influence over their next course of action. It was logical that I inform them as I did."

Tucker shook his head.

"Damned Vulcan logic," he muttered. "Use the scanner discretely. It would be best if we only had to alter Hallee's memories, not half the crew as well."

"Yes sir," she replied.

"Try to speed things up, will you? Starfleet is starting to get antsy."

"Yes sir," Archer replied as she watched Tucker end the communication. She started to try and find the Suliban on the scanner, thinking to herself that Tucker's reaction had been slightly illogical and highly emotional.

Silik smiled as he looked over the latest scans.

Enterprise couldn¹t trace them. The precious particles inside the girl were almost at the maximum, and it was only a mater of time before an opportunistic infection came along to strike the girl down. He tossed the latest report onto his desk and leaned back, smiling at how things were going.

"Mr. Silik, sir?" he heard from the other side of his desk. He leaned over to look at Hallee. "I'd like to go back to Hoshi now," she said quietly.

"You don't enjoy it here?" he asked.

"I do. But I miss Hoshi and I need to be there when they find a way to get me home," she answered with a yawn.

"They can't get you home," he told her.

"But Hoshi said . . . "

"I don't care what that silly girl said. You're stuck here if it's up to   
them." Silik's patience with this child was wearing thin. 

"Why would they lie?" Hallee asked, her lip starting to tremble. "Don't they like me?"

"Why do you think we were able to get you so easily? They grew bored of you. I, on the other hand, am glad to have your company. We've been working on a way to get you home since you first arrived on Enterprise," he lied through his pointed little teeth. "And you're almost ready to go."

The little girl looked at him for a moment. Hoshi wouldn't lie to her about something like this, and they had all been having fun. She could tell things like that. And then there was Porthos. A dog as wonderful as Porthos had to belong to good people.

"Oh," was all she could come up with to say. "Well, I think I'd like to go to bed now then."

"Of course, little one, let's go then," he said as he stood with his fake smile plastered wide across his face. It was all falling nicely into place. T'Lin thumped the scanner against her forehead a few times after being informed that some unidentifiable element was interfering with the scans.

"I will purge every emotion I have if you do not make me do the scanning from inside an EVA suit. All of them," she promised the little electronic panel. The panel simply blinked at her in return.

T'Lin threw it across the room, enjoying the sound it made as it hit the wall and then thumped down on the floor.

She tapped her foot for a moment as she tried to gear herself up to try again.

"Even in the 29th century, technology is useless when you really need it to work."

She finally got up out of her chair and picked up the piece of equipment, smiling as she saw the coordinates to the Suliban ship staring back at her.

"I've always said I was born in the wrong century. I love solving my  
problems by inflecting damage on them."

And with that, she headed off to share the good news with Archer.

Hoshi tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for the lift to take her to the bridge Her mind was working a mile a minute figuring out how to get over Charlie, no, Commander Tucker, she corrected herself. She said there would be no regrets, but she was regretting things now. She backed a little further into the lift when it stopped and tensed when the object of her confusion stepped in. The two stared at each other for a minute.

"I'll just catch the next one," he said, backing out.

"Trip," she called. "Get in here." When he didn't move, she stepped forward and grabbed his uniform, pulling him into the lift with her. "Just like I said, no regrets." Hoshi forced an "everything's okay" smile. He looked at her for a moment before slowly nodding. They moved to their own sides of the lift, neither talking nor looking at one another.

"Good, you're both here," Jonathon said as the lift door opened and they stepped onto the bridge. They headed over to the command center and stared at the images floating overhead, projected from the small tablet Lt. T'Lin Archer was fiddling with. The image suddenly flickered and died, and she fumbled with it for a moment before finally giving it a good whack against the consul. It flickered to life again.

"This is the Suliban ship," she started. "It is a few thousand light years from us." Everyone looked at it apprehensively, not wanting to ask if it was the right ship.

"Hallee is right here," she said as she magnified the image and pointed out a little blue dot amid the hundreds of green ones. A collective sigh was heard around the bridge.

"When do we leave?" Malcolm asked.

"As soon as we get a team together and work out a plan," she told him. "This ship is different from any every encountered before. It exists on the edge of our time continuum, which is why you couldn't track it. We must move quickly though," she informed them as she programmed the tablet to start mapping out possible routes to get to Hallee.

"Any reason we're rushin' against the clock?" Trip asked as he stared at the image. 

"Hallee's dying and they're not doing anything to prevent it," T'Lin said calmly as she focused on the image, solidifying her plan.

"You don't seem too concerned," Trip said, anger beginning to bubble up from under the surface. 

T'Lin and T'Pol both stared at him for a moment and Malcolm caught the two of them out of the corner of his eye. He almost gasped as he realized the personal connection between the now and future as represented by the two Vulcan women.

"This is not the time to charge in because emotions are running high," T'Lin told him in the same calm manner. "The soldiers on this ship are inexperienced, but they are highly motivated by knowing that the only way to win the war is sitting on their ship right now. They are more than willing to fight to the death to keep Hallee with them." 

Trip nodded his head almost reluctantly, knowing the dangers of fighting poorly trained, fanatical solders.

T'Lin pulled T'Pol far enough away from the group that Hoshi could only guess they were speaking in Vulcan about the situation.

Hoshi wasn't trying very hard to listen in on the conversation. She was too busy with beating herself up over how selfish and irresponsible she had been. Hallee was alone and dying on a Suliban ship and she had been seducing Trip. It had seemed like the right thing to do at the time, though she dearly regretted it now. Silik watched in pleasure as Hallee tossed in her sleep. A fine sheen coated her pale skin, which was starting to turn a bright pink.

"It won't be long now," the doctor told him. "A few hours, a day at the most," he finished as he snapped his medical scanner closed and left the room.

"It's a shame, little one, that you won't be around to share in the glory you're going to create for me," he muttered through a tight smile. Silik turned away from the dying girl and headed back up to the bridge, leaving orders to be immediately alerted when she was ready.


	7. Chapter 7

-1   
Malcolm and Trip checked over their phase pistols as T'Lin inspected the tricorder and phaser that she had hidden in her bag prior to coming on board.

"I still can't believe you got those past me," Reed commented as he  
practically drooled over the advanced weaponry.

"Only 800 years to go," she said dryly, holstering the phaser and tucking the tricorder into her pocket. The three stepped silently on the transporter platform before T'Lin got down to business.

"We have approximately 2 minutes before the ships sensors configure themselves to get past the dampening field emanating from my tricorder," she said, lightly tapping the precious piece of equipment. "As long as we stay out of sight, we should be able to retrieve Hallee and be on our way back to the beam-out point before they come looking for us.

"Ensign Mayweather, be ready to jump to warp as soon as we are back aboard," T'Lin finished smoothly. 

"Aye-aye, Ma'am," Travis acknowledged over the comm unit.

"May you be successful," T'Pol told them. 

"We will," she replied, a hint of that Archer smile graced her lips.

"Energize," she called to the transporter tech and the three dematerialized onto the Suliban ship.

T'Lin motioned the two men to follow her as they silently skulked through the corridors of the ship.

"You sure you know where you're goin?" Trip whispered as he looked around.

"Pretty sure, yes," she told him as she hesitated at a juncture for a moment before taking the left.

"Well, aren't I just filled with confidence," he muttered under his breath.

"Look," she said. "Your future and my present are at stake here. I may not be the most experienced officer in the fleet, but I know what I'm doing. This is as close to destiny as any of us is ever going to see. Don't make me second-guess myself or I may wake up tomorrow and be completely human or I may never wake up tomorrow because I won't exist. And you might not either if they succeed."

"Sorry," Tucker muttered again. "Gotta remember I'm surrounded by women with supernatural hearing." Reed flashed a quick smile before his face resumed its almost-feral look.

They turned down a few more corridors before coming upon a sealed door guarded by two men.

"This it?" Reed whispered this time. T'Lin nodded and signaled for them to fire on three. Reed and Tucker fired and she rushed forward, peaking through the small window to make sure Hallee was there before starting to work on opening the door.

Trip and Malcolm kept watch outside for the brief time it took T'Lin to get in and bundle Hallee up.

"Goddamnit!" she cried as the alarms went off. "Go!"

The three took off in a run, pausing only to hand Hallee off to Trip so T'Lin could guide the way. 

"Enterprise, do you have a lock?" Malcolm asked. 

"Negative," Archer's voice answered him. "You need to make it to the beam-in point. "

"I don't know if we're going to make it, sir," Malcolm called as he fired at the Suliban gaining on them from behind.

"Keep moving Malcolm, we're working on it," Archer answered as the connection broke up for a few seconds. The Enterprise officers watched helplessly as T'Lin was shot down by a Suliban seemingly appearing out of nowhere in front of them. They stopped and started to fire, securing the junction for a few seconds as Malcolm threw the unconscious woman over his shoulder and the two looked at her discarded tricorder.

"This way!" Malcolm called. Then men hurried down the corridors. "Enterprise! Now!" Malcolm yelled as more Suliban closed in on their position.

The four stared to fade out just as a clear shot was taken at Trip's head.

Trip and Malcolm wasted no time after they materialized on the platform. The two rushed toward the med bay, shouting orders over their shoulders to the hapless ensign manning the transporter station.

"Get the Captain down to the med bay!" Malcolm called, moving T'Lin from his shoulders to his arms, hoping to get a glance at her wound.

"That didn't go so great, did it?" she asked weakly.

"Went great," Trip said with a smile. "Just like we planned. Make sure Phlox knows we're comin'!" He hesitated for a moment. "And Hoshi," he added before stepping into the lift.

Malcolm glanced at Trip after the last comment. It was unusual to hear any hesitation about contacting Hoshi since Hallee had arrived.

"Long story then?" Malcolm asked.

"Maybe I'll tell it to ya some time," Trip muttered, not really wanting to deal with it right at that moment.

"The young lieutenant here please, Lt. Reed," Phlox said, pointing to one bed. "And Hallee over here, commander."

The two men stepped back for a moment as Phlox rushed around. Tucker swallowed hard as he watched Phlox shake his head while scanning Hallee.

"What? What's wrong?" he asked.

"I have no idea," Phlox said as he adjusted the settings on the bio reader. "I've never seen anything like this before.

"We'll just have to hope she lasts until T'Lin is well enough to explain," he said gravely as he moved on to the young Vulcan, calling out orders to prepare for surgery.

Malcolm stood off to the side for a moment as a pang of guilt flew through him. If he hadn't been so busy thinking about T'Lin's weapons and had been more focused on what was going on around him, she probably wouldn't have been shot. 

He knew that no one would fault him, but he couldn't shake the feeling. He opened his mouth to tell Trip he was leaving but hesitated when he saw the commander gather Hallee up in his arms and try to quiet her down. He turned and left quickly, narrowly avoiding Hoshi who was all but running down the  
hall. Archer let out a frustrated sigh when the news reached the bridge. He jumped up and headed for the lift with Hoshi on his heels. The ride was a quiet one as he watched Hoshi fidget.

"They're all going to be fine, Ensign," he said after a moment. She stopped bouncing on her toes and glanced up at him.

"Of course," she replied, and Jonathon Archer was a little surprised to see the doubt in her eyes. She turned away from him quickly and was out the door like a flash when they opened. By the time he got in the room, Hoshi was already at Trip's side. He saw no reason to interrupt. 

Archer headed toward the surgical bay and stood quietly, watching Phlox work.  
He had done this before, but the last time he had felt this anxious about it was when Porthos was the one on the operation table.

He turned his head slightly as he took T'Lin in and found himself picking out features he recognized. She really did look like T'Pol as far as he was concerned. She was shorter, the curve and point to her ears wasn't as pronounced and the cheeks weren't so sharp, but it was still there.

The captain smiled and shook his head a little, wondering why he hadn't put two-and-two together when he had first seen her. The two Vulcans shared the same determined look, the same 'you annoy me, but I'm not going to admit it' stare. 

He also began to think back to the conversation they'd had in his ready room. While she had been vague on the details, he did know that something was going to happen with T'Pol at some point in the mission, something that neither of them could control.

There'd be a lot of tension between them, a fight for his commission with Starfleet and she would eventually resign from her rank to stay on the ship after an unexpected consequence crept up on them.

So he stood there, watching his how ever many great-granddaughter being put back together, a small bit of pride flaring up at the fact that he wasn't the last Archer to end up wasting their lives chasing comets and aliens around the galaxy. Hoshi rummaged around the med bay for a moment after looking in on Hallee and finally came up with a cloth. She wet it and went back over to the bed, climbing up next to Trip to wipe Hallee's face before moving on to her hands. The little girl stirred slightly before dropping back off.

"Needs a bath," Trip commented.

"So does she," Hoshi commented. Trip chuckled.

"Tryin' to tell me something?" he asked. Hoshi paused for a moment.

"I didn't mean. . . " 

"I know," he said. The two fell silent as Hoshi twisted the cloth in her hands. "You, uh, you regret. . " 

"No," she said slowly. "Not completely. I kind of regret it being for  
being spur of the moment pity sex," she said as she glanced up at him.

"Me too," he said with a nod. "Maybe we could, uh, try and go about it the right way next time?"

The two looked at each other for a moment before she nodded slowly.

"Yeah. More fun, less drama." He nodded in agreement and she looked anxiously towards where Phlox was operating.

"It's gonna be okay Hosh," Trip said, pulling her close. "Phlox is gonna fix T'Lin up, then she's gonna help him fix Hallee up. Next thing ya know, we're gonna be sendin' her back home where she belongs," he told her. "Things are gonna work out just fine for everyone."  
"That's all I can do for now," Phlox told Archer as he came out of the  
operating area.

"How is she?" the captain asked as he watched Liz make a few notes. 

"As well as can be expected," Phlox replied while removing his surgical garb. "She will need to be sedated for several hours to give the wounds a chance to start to heal. If she's anything like the Sub-commander, she'll need that time."

Jon sighed and rubbed his forehead. The last 24-hours had not been the most fun he had ever had and it just kept getting better.

"She will survive though, right?"

"Of course," Phlox said as he headed over to some of his animal cages. Archer followed on his heels. "The question, Captain, is will Hallee last long enough."

Jon focused on the doctor for a moment. He had forgotten about the little girl's medical plight in his worry over the Vulcan.

"I've been monitoring her while I was in surgery," he explained. "Whatever is happening to her is starting to happen faster now."

Hoshi dozed on the bed, leaning against Trip who still had Hallee in his arms.

She had offered to take her, but he had refused after watching her reaction to leaving his arms the first time.

He had given her to Hoshi so he could go and find some coffee, only to find that Hallee had become agitated and restless. When she was returned to Trip, she calmed down immediately and dropped off into unconsciousness again. They agreed not to disturb her unless it was absolutely necessary.

"You know, I never thought I'd want this," he commented after a while.

"Want what?" she asked as she cracked an eye open.

"A kid in my arms," he admitted. "I was gonna leave the provision of  
grandchildren to my sister while I roamed the stars."

A silence fell over the two as Hoshi sat up, rubbed her eyes and stretched a little.

"I don't want to lose her, Hosh," he whispered. She glanced at him,  
furrowing her brow slightly. 

"You're not going to lose her. Everything's going to be fine, she's going to get better and we're going to make sure she gets home okay."

"That's just it. I don't want her to go home."

"She's not your baby, Trip," Hoshi told him as she found the cloth to wipe Hallee again. "She's somebody else's baby."

He watched as she mothered the little girl in his arms.

"I wish she was mine," he admitted. "A week or two ago, sure, I woulda had no problem givin' her back, but now . . ."

"She's grown on you and replaced your engines as the most important thing in your life." He smiled and gave a little chuckle.

"Wonder if they're gonna get all jealous on me now."

"Oh probably," she said casually. "Don't they always?"

Silik was livid as the reports came pouring in. Enterprise had managed to find them, get the girl, kill two of his officers and escape with their lives.

He took a moment to violently rearrange the furniture in his office before storming off to violently rearrange some of his officers who had failed him. As he made his way toward the scene of the breakout, he was summoned to the communications room. He swore as he turned on his heels and headed off to take the call.

"Things are not going well," the voice said calmly.

"Of course they're not!" Silik bellowed as he paced the room. "You fill my ship with the youngest, most incompetent members of the species and you expect me to make something like this work? I told you they would fail!"

"The success of this mission rested not on the ability of the crew, but on the ability of the commander to prepare them," was the calm response he got. Silik nearly felt his heart explode at that statement.

"You will not lay the blame for this solely upon my shoulders!" he yelled. "I trained them to the best of my ability, taught them everything I know and they still failed! I was their own incompetence and inability to perform the simple duties they were given that caused this mission to fail!"

"Who is to say the mission has failed?" the voice asked in the same calm monotone. Silik paused mid-stride as he paced the room. "There is still time. Enterprise is still nearby, and with their guests both incapacitated at the moment, they have no way of tracking you," he explained patiently.

Silik took a moment to consider what he was being told.

"I will need time to formulate a plan of attack," he said. "This ship may be advanced, but it is not invincible and Enterprise is a powerful ship."

"You must make your move within the hour, or all will be lost, including your life," he was told gravely as the shadow left the communications platform.

Silik stood rooted to his spot on the floor for a long moment, his heart  
still beating furiously. The incompetence of his men did reflect badly upon him as a leader. He didn't like that.

He didn't like to lose, either, and he wasn't going to do that again. Silik headed off to the bridge with a new plan already brewing in the back of his mind. Archer sat anxiously by T'Lin's bedside, waiting for her to wake up. He played with the padd in his hand.

He had intended to read the report Malcolm gave him, but every time he looked away, he was certain he saw her move or twitch or something else looking like a sign that she was coming around.

The Captain turned around when he heard the doors open and was slightly surprised to see T'Pol standing in the doorway.

"You are doing little to help the situation," she said calmly as she  
approached him. He chuckled and she quirked an eyebrow.

"I know," he told her. "I've read the first line of Malcolm's report half a dozen times and nothing more."

"I didn't mean that. I meant that you should be formulating a plan to keep us ahead of the Suliban. I doubt that they will give up on the child so easily." 

"Hallee," he said.

"Excuse me?" 

"Her name is Hallee. She's 4 years old and has one older brother. Her favorite colour is yellow and she likes to ride her bike up hills because it's harder than riding down."

"That is irrelevant information to our situation," T'Pol pointed out, not understanding why Archer felt it was pertinent for her to know this.

"It is relevant to our situation. It's relevant that she's not just some  
child on our ship that we need to protect. It's relevant that somewhere long the line we apparently enter a situation where we reproduce together and it's relevant that eventually these two events will become intertwined and dependant on each other. Everything is relevant to our situation and I think you know more than you're letting on," he said as he stood and turned to her.

T'Pol leaned back, slightly shocked by his reaction and reference to their eventual copulation. They two had yet to vocalize the fact that they were, inevitably, going to end up together.

"Your reaction is highly illogical." 

"I'm not feeling very logical right now, T'Pol. None of this is very logical and I don't feel like being logical when nothing else is. I want answers and I think you have them."

"Why would you assume that I know information you do not?"

"Because you're both Vulcans. You people share things with each other that you won't share with others. I'll make it an order if I have too." T'Pol looked at him in confusion.

"Will knowing that she has a beagle named Alex aid our situation?" she asked calmly. 

"There must be more than personal details that were shared. She spent nearly three hours in your quarters the other night."

T'Pol's eyebrow hit the ceiling again when she found out he knew that.

"You've been keeping track of our movements?" she asked.

"Just her's. It's not everyday someone claiming to be your descendant appears on your ship."

"She told me nothing useful to our situation. She did not tell me about any of the instruments she suddenly has. With time I assume Hoshi and I could get the instruments functioning to our advantage, but I doubt they would help us."

Archer sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose as he sat back down at T'Lin's bedside. He cast a glance over at Hoshi and Tucker who seemed to be trying to work something out between them.

"I doubt Hoshi would be of much use right now." 

"She is a trained officer. She would do her duty." 

"I won't order her to tinker with a bunch of instruments at a time like this. Maybe you don't understand because you're a Vulcan, but I imagine that part of Hoshi is dying with Hallee right now and I won't make her try and concentrate on something else right now."

The last bit of his statement stung slightly, which T'Pol found a rather interesting sensation. She did understand, to a point. As he had said, it wasn't every day that you met your own progeny and are left wondering if they would survive the night. 

"I'll ask Lt. Reed for assistance then," she said curtly as she turned on her heels and left the room.

Archer sighed and threw his padd across the room before dropping his head into his hands.

T'Lin slowly became aware of her surroundings. She was warm, which was always a good sign, and dry, an even better sign because it meant she wasn't outside. She was also very sore, which was a bad thing.

She flinched a little when she heard a voice call out for Phlox as memories of the last few hours flooded her mind. She cracked an eye open and turned her head slightly to glance at whoever was making all the noise.

"Welcome back," Archer said with a smile. She blinked at him blankly for a moment, not saying anything as Phlox came over to scan her.

"Everything is healing nicely," he reported as he adjusted a few more settings on the bed. "I would like you to stay put for a few more hours. The wounds aren't healing quite as fast as I'd like them too."

"We still need your help," Archer jumped in and T'Lin turned back to him as quickly as she could. She couldn't shake the drug-induced fog that surrounded her brain as fast as she'd like.

"With?" she asked quietly.

"Hallee," he started. "We don't know what's wrong. She's . . ." 

"Dying," she finished for him. "It's radiation," she said, pausing to try and remember the specific name.

"What kind?"

"I can't remember," she said slowly. "It's from the barrier she fell  
through. It's been replicating, using her own body against her. If they had found out what kind it was, it would have been over for her," she finished as she started to drift again. Archer glanced around frantically for a moment until he caught sight of Phlox, who simply shrugged.

"T'Lin, you have to tell me," he said as he leaned in closer. He gave her a little shake to wake her and she stared at him for a moment.

"Stasis," she replied simply. "Contact Tucker and Daniels," she finished as she dropped off again. Archer sighed and sat back for a second before turning to Phlox.

"I'll have a chamber ready in a few moments," he replied as he went over to inform Trip and Hoshi of the situation.

"How did I know there was going to be another Tucker involved in this?" Archer asked himself as he stalked off to find T'Pol and Malcolm. "It's the only solution we have at the moment," Phlox explained as Hoshi followed him around the room as he got the stasis chamber ready. 

"But you know that it's radiation now. There has got to be something . . ."

"Ensign, I have never encountered this form of radiation before. I have no idea what it does or how it will react to standard treatments. I wouldn't trust any specific information we get from T'Lin at this moment even if she told me the sun rises in the east." Hoshi sighed in defeat before wandering back over to Trip, shaking her head.

"It'll be fer the best anyways. Would you really want Phlox to take advice from her right now anyways? She can't even keep her eyes open," he said, glancing over at the still-sleeping Vulcan.

"I'm just so tired of feeling helpless," she assured him. "I want to do something. We're so close, and now we're just going to put her in suspended animation."

"It's for the best," he repeated as he slid off the bed and headed over to Phlox. "Everything is gonna be just fine," he muttered as he laid her on the bed and watched Phlox seal Hallee in. "How's it going?" Archer asked T'Pol and Malcolm when he found them in the armoury.

"Slowly," the Brit answered as he tinkered with the panel. Archer watched them for a few moments before he took the device from his armoury officer and threw it across the room. Reed stood and watched the panel hit the wall and flickered to life.

"That was highly illogical," T'Pol informed him. "And risky. You could have damaged it beyond repair." 

"If that method works for T'Lin, it works for me," he replied as he watched Malcolm retrieve the panel.

"She said to contact Tucker and Daniels."

"Tucker and Daniels?" Malcolm asked. Archer nodded.

"Open a channel, Mr. Reed," he said, clearing his throat a little. "I'm   
Captain Jonathon Archer of the Starship Enterprise. I'm looking to speak with Tucker and Daniels," he said.

"The Admiral and Captain are busy at the moment," the voice replied. 

"It's in regards of one Lt. T'Lin Archer," he threw in. The three listened as some scrambling on the other end after his announcement.

"You're not supposed to have that," Tucker informed Archer as he came onto the screen.

"Things change, Admiral," he said. "Your lieutenant is currently in my medical bay recovering for a phaser wound. Our other guest is being placed in a stasis chamber as we speak." Archer watched as a very familiar sigh was issued.

"T'Lin will recover?" 

"Phlox says she'll be fine." The other man nodded and cut the audio as he had a brief discussion with Daniels. 

"Permission to come aboard?" Tucker asked. 

"Certainly," Archer replied.

"We'll meet you in your med bay in 20 minutes," Tucker said as he cut the communication.

"Of course you can come aboard," Archer muttered to himself as he left the armoury with T'Pol on his heels. "I've already had two strange people just appear out of nowhere. How could I refuse some one who actually asked?"

"We must bring them to us," Silik told the crew as he glanced around the bridge. "We must make certain that they come to us when they discover that this is the only planet in the sector with what they need to cure the child. We must also make certain that they do not detect us until they have an away team on the planet." 

He stared at some of the officers around him. His senior staff understood what was at stake here and the younger ones were still feeling shame that they allowed a team of humans and a Vulcan to steal their prize.

"There is no option but to succeed," he finished, and they all understood what that meant, thought it meant different things to different people. To the experienced, it meant their lives were going to come to an abrupt and unscheduled end if they failed. To the inexperienced, it meant that they were going to lose the war. Both were right. "I had forgotten what tin cans these early ships were," Admiral Tucker muttered to Daniels as they appeared on Enterprise. Daniels chuckled a little as they watched Archer, T'Pol and Reed round the corner to meet them.

"Daniels, Admiral. My first officer T'Pol and my weapons officer Lt. Reed," Archer said quickly as they made their way to the med bay. The five briefly discussed the situation as they walked and Tucker filled in a few holes for Archer. 

"She was never supposed to see the inside of this ship," Tucker told him. "You were supposed to come across a single human life sign on a planet and she was supposed to only see Lt Reed, Ensign Sato, Commander Tucker and yourself. The Suliban were to come, there was to be a brief battle and eventually, with a few rocky spots, she ended up back home safe and sound, unaware that any of the events had taken place at all."

"So what happened?" Reed asked.

"The Suliban happened," Daniels explained. "Originally, they never stole the temporal algorithms that they did, they just stumbled upon your ship with your people on the surface. But because they did steal the algorithms and attempt their own temporal incursion, they altered the timeline and here we all are."

"And why is Hallee so important to them? What makes this radiation so important?" Archer asked as they entered the med bay.

"We're not sure why, but when she passed through the barrier the chroniton radiation mutated somehow. This form has taken on an organic element and the Suliban have a way to manipulate it to turn the tide of the temporal war in their favour. If they manage to get their hands on her, all will be lost. Speaking of which . . . ." Daniels said as he glanced around the med bay.

"Gentlemen," Phlox said as he came over to them. "She's in number two."

"T'Lin?" Admiral Tucker asked.

"Hallee. T'Lin is over there and quiet oblivious to everything."

If this had been any other situation, Tucker probably would have made a comment about that statement. Phlox made his way over and opened the chamber. Daniels and Tucker quickly began scanning and whispering to each other while the Enterprise crew could only stand back and watch.

"Where are Trip and Hoshi?" Archer asked.

"Commander Tucker dragged the Ensign off to get something to eat." Archer nodded as he watched the two time travelers still whispering over the little girl.

"There should be a planet nearby that has a plant that can cure her," Daniels motioned to Hallee.

He came over and handed Archer a padd with co-ordinates on it. Archer passed it on to T'Pol, who headed to the bridge with it.

"The only problem is that the away team will be on their own on the planet. The magnetic field is unusual and communicators, as well as phase pistols and transporters, won't work,"

Archer fought the urge to call out 'of course!' and throw his hands in the air.

"Choose your away team carefully Captain, I wouldn't be surprised if there were some old friends waiting for you there." Daniels pushed Hallee back into the chamber and closed the door before stepping back.

"You're not going to give us any specifics, are you?"

"The temporal prime directive forbids it."

"You said the original timeline had already been disrupted. What will it matter?" 

"There isn't simply one timeline, Captain. Time is many threads that are all intertwined. If you pull one, others will unravel while others grow tighter. Telling you anymore will unravel more strings than it will tighten."


	8. Chapter 8

-1   
Archer looked at the officers assembled in the small conference area on the bridge. Malcolm, Chang and Ryan were present, as were T'Pol, Travis and Captain Daniels.

"Here's the situation," Archer started. "We need to go down to the planet, find this and get back," he said, tossing a PADD onto the small table.

"That doesn't sound all that complicated," Malcolm commented.

"Except that phase pistols, tricorders, communicators and the transporter won't be working."

A hush fell over the table for a moment. 

"You'll have to depend on your selves alone which is why you are all here."

"Malcolm, T'Pol, Travis and Captain Daniels will go to the surface to retrieve the plants we need. Our friendly MACOs will go along as well for some extra protection."

Archer turned slightly and nodded his head toward his Vulcan officer.

" T'Pol, you'll have to be the ears of the operation and Malcolm and his team will be the muscle. You are all to obey Captain Daniels while on the planet. Understood?" 

Archer barely waited for nods of agreement before dismissing the meeting and heading back down to the med bay to see if Hoshi and Trip were back yet. Trip led Hoshi to one of the smaller tables in the back of the mess hall, hoping for a moment of peace and quiet. He didn't think either of them was going to eat, but they had to put up a good show to make Phlox happy.

Word had also trickled down to the m that they would not be part of the away team. 

"I can't do this," Hoshi said before getting up and leaving the table.

Trip watched her go for a moment, trying to figure out how to keep her out of the med deck for another 25 minutes. Just as he got up to follow her he found himself trapped by a crewman from engineering.

"Sir? Commander? I was wondering. . ." he started, pointing to something on the PADD he was holding.

"Paterson, it's gonna haveta wait," he said as he tried to get around him.

"It'll only take a second sir," Paterson said as he started to talk again. Trip sighed and listened to the whole story.

"Fine, you do that, lemme know how it works out," he said as he finally pushed his way past. He glanced up and down the hallway for a moment, disappointed, but not surprised, that he didn't see Hoshi. He took a deep breath before he started to search for her. T'Pol stepped onto the med deck for a moment, relieved to see that Phlox wasn't there. She headed to the back and stood at the foot of T'Lin's bed for a moment. While she found it hard to understand Archer's attachment to Hallee, she was starting to understand why he had spent so long at T'Lin's bedside.

While her logical side told her that the amount of DNA she most likely shared with this girl was minimal, there was still a strong pull. She felt a need to ensure her safety and happiness.

T'Pol leaned over slightly and brushed some hair from T'Lin's forhead before she silently retreated from the room, pondering how exactly she and Archer were to spread their DNA over at least eight generations of Vulcans.  
The group took a moment to find their bearings as they looked around at their surroundings. This planet looked like all the others as far as Malcolm was concerned.

"We will return in one hour," T'Pol said as she looked to Captain Daniels.

"Let's move out," he said, agreeing with her. "Keep your eyes and ears open, and be prepared for hand-to-hand combat if necessary." 

"Do you really think the Suliban would come down here, sir?" Malcolm asked as he fell into line.

"What better way to get to Hallee than to gather a group of high ranking hostages to trade?" Daniels asked.

The group carried on in silence as they headed toward the clearing where the vegetation they needed was growing. "They have landed on the planet," an officer said from his console.

"Excellent," Silik said as he rubbed his hands together and got up, calling out to his away team to follow him.

If he couldn't get directly to the girl, he was going to bargain for her. Archer could be a stupid man at times, but surely he wouldn't risk a fair portion of his senior staff for this one child.

"We will return shortly," he said as the group headed off to the shuttle pods. "Ya can't keep runnin' off on me like this," Trip Tucker said as he finally tracked sown Hoshi in "The Sweet Spot," as Travis had named it.

"Go away," she said without looking at him.

"Hidin' away ain't gonna get them back any sooner," he retorted as he floated up to the ceiling toward her.

"Maybe not, but it makes the stares go away."

"Small ship, you had to expect it." 

"Well maybe if they spent more time doing their jobs than staring at us, we wouldn't be in this mess!" she yelled back.

The two floated silently for a moment.

"I bet the away team has already found what they're lookin' for. I bet they're on their was back to the ship right now," he said, trying to reassure him.

"They've been gone 10 minutes," she said dryly as she looked at him.

He grinned and shrugged sheepishly. She couldn't help but smile back and shake her head. "You're hopeless," she commented.

"One of us has to be," he said as he floated closer to her. "We wait here," Silik said as he scouted out a ridge to wait for his prey.

"They will be here shortly, looking for that group of foliage," he said, pointing to a cluster of plants with bright purple flowers.

"Are you sure they will approach that bunch, and not the cluster to the left?" One of the men asked.

"Yes. The path exists right there," he said, pointing to small clearing. "That is the closest group of plants. They will be rushing and will make simple tactical errors that will give us the advantage."

The men were satisfied with the answer and made themselves comfortable.

While neither side had weapons, Silik was certain that his team had the advantage. The cover they found was a start, but he also was confident that he had brought more men. He figured his group outnumbered the other away team 2-to-1, a distinct advantage when the hand-to-hand combat started

A small smile graced Silik's face as he hunkered down and waited for the right moment to spring his trap.

The group from Enterprise came to a stop at the forest's edge.

"There," Malcolm said, pointing to the bush of bright purple flowers. Daniels reached out and grabbed Travis' arm before he could head out of the forest.

"They're here," he said. He let go as Travis sat back down. The group looked to T'Pol to see if she had heard anything.

"He may be correct," she said as she scanned the ridge towering over the clearing. "If they were planning an attack, they would not find a better location."

The group sat back on their heels for a long moment as they considered their options.

"Over there," Malcolm said as he pointed to a second bush. "It's closer to the tree line as well. Perhaps we could reach it without leaving the cover of the forest?"

T'Pol, Daniels and the MACOs began to gage the distance in question.

"It does provide a better chance at a favorable outcome," T'Pol admitted finally. Daniels sighed as he considered their options.

"Alright, here's the plan," he said as he drew the group into a huddle.

"Surely it hasn't taken them this long to reach the clearing?" Silik frowned as he considered this question.

"No. They're out there," he said. "I'm sure of it."

He squinted against the sun as he continued to scan the forest for signs of the Enterprise crew.

One thing he had come to like about this group was that they never really took the time to find clothing that would help them blend in. Their uniforms and survival suits always gave them away.

"There," one of the officers said as he pointed to a group of moving branches.

"Wait until they enter the clearing, then attack," he reminded them as they waited for the right moment.

Travis held his breath as he continued to rattle the branches while the others made their way to the second bush.

A birdcall rang out through the woods and Travis slowly stopped moving the branches as Malcolm took over in a different location.

A third call sounded as Malcolm slowed and Ryan took over, drawing the Suliban attention away from bushes.

"Now," T'Pol whispered as she saw the Suliban shifting to the far left of their position. Daniels and the remaining members of the away team snuck out and quickly filled a canister with parts of the plant including roots, leaves and flowers.

"Now it's there!" An officer hissed as they saw a new tree beginning to move. Silik frowned as he watched this. This wasn't right.

"An animal, perhaps?" some one else asked. Silik watched as a third tree started to move and he was now. As he sat back to consider his next move, he saw the crewmembers going after the plant.

"It's a trick! Get them!" he yelled as he began down the ridge, the others following him as fast as they could.

"Run!" Daniels' shouted as he tossed the container to Malcolm, who caught it and tucked it under his arm. The others fell into the step quickly as they raced through the trees, avoiding the cut path.

As they ran, they tossed the container about, trying to keep the Suliban off balance long enough for them to all pile into the shuttle.

"STOP!" Silik yelled to the group as he watched his men tackle Ryan.

"We'll kill him!" he called to the crew. "He means nothing to us!" The Enterprise crew slowly came to a halt as they all tried to think of what to do.

"Go a head!" Daniels called out as he crept toward the shuttle. "We have what we want."

"Captain," T'Pol started to protest, Daniels cut her off with a gesture.

"Even if you do kill him, we can simply reset the time line and try again, only this time, I'll know what your plans are."

Both groups stopped at this and looked to their leaders for guidance.

"Kill him," Silik said.

"Go," Daniels said at the same time. They tried their best to ignore the screams, telling themselves it was for the best.

"Stop," Silik told his men after the Enterprise crew had made it to the shuttle. "He's worth more alive.

"Sir?" the men asked as they held the MACO up.

"Archer has far too much affection for his crew," he said as he headed towards their shuttle. "We will still gain what we want from this." Silik's men fell into step behind him as they dragged the unconscious officer with them.

"Report!" Archer called out as the shuttle came into communications range.

"They have Ryan," Daniels said, still slightly out of breath. The shuttle crew was quiet as they waited for Archer's response. Archer ground his teeth together for a moment before he responded.

"Is he dead?"

"I doubt it," Daniels said. "They're desperate, I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to negotiate."

Archer let a little sigh go. This was better than nothing.

"Shuttle bay is clear for landing, Enterprise out," he said as he cut the comm channel and sat back down in his chair. "Where's Admiral Tucker?" he asked after a moment.

"The mess hall, sir," the ensign manning Hoshi's station replied.

"Then I'll be in the mess hall," he said as he quickly left the bridge.

Trip lay on his back and contemplated the ceiling that hung a few inches from his nose. At least he thought it was the ceiling. He and Hoshi had been in 'the sweet spot' for a while now, he had lost track of time.

"Archer to Tucker." Tucker jumped and Hoshi woke up at the sound of the comm. Tucker made his way back down to the ground.

"Tucker here."

"The shuttle is on its way back," Archer told him.

"I'll let Hoshi know," he said as he closed the channel.

"They're back?' she asked as she came down to join him.

"Soon, darlin'," he said as he took her hand to pull her the rest of the way down before they finally left 'the sweet spot' and headed back to sickbay. The fact that Hoshi hadn't let go of his hand hadn't been lost on Tucker. He smiled a little to himself as he figured that they were going to be okay.

"I'm fine!" T'Lin insisted as she made a lunge at Phlox to grab her uniform. He sidestepped her and she stumbled.

"You are not fine, Lieutenant," he said as he tossed the uniform on an unused bed.

"You can barely stand up by yourself. Sit down," he ordered as he led her back to her bio bed.

"So what?" she asked as she allowed herself to be led to the bed. "Who needs to stand? There are chairs at every station."

"And how exactly are you going to find your way to your station if you can't take more then a few steps without falling over?" he asked as he started running a few more tests.

"I'd find a way," she grumbled as she sat on the bed and waited. Phlox gave her a shot and stepped back.

"All right, try again," he said with a sigh. 

She slipped off the bed cautiously and stood for a moment before she tried to make a get away.

"You come back here immediately if you start to feel dizzy!" he called after her as she headed over to change.

"Certainly," she said, immerging a few moments later. "Thank you, doctor," she said as she left sickbay, intent on tracking down Admiral Tucker and finding out what exactly had been going on while she had been incapacitated.

"We will be docking in a few moments," Travis called out as he steered towards Enterprise. "Hold on a minute, I'm picking up a second ship."

"Suliban?" T'Pol asked as she slid into the co-pilots seat.

"Affirmative," Travis said as he looked to her. "I think we can make it," he said as he started to adjust the speed.

"No," she said. "Wait here, perhaps they have not detected us. Prepare for silent running."

T'Pol began turning off non-essential systems in the shuttle pod. The cabin fell silent as they all waited to see what the Suliban ship was going to do. Travis and T'Pol both craned their necks around as they tried to see what was going on out of the small windows.

"I think they found us," Travis said as they watched the ship turn about and head back into the atmosphere, where the shuttle was still sitting.

"I agree," T'Pol said as they began to quickly power the shuttle back up and make a run for Enterprise. "Hail Enterprise and advise them of our situation," she said as she continued to bring systems back on line.

"No response," Mayweather said with a shake of his head. "Communications are being jammed."

"Evasive maneuvers," she said as she tried to get around the jamming signal.

"Kinda makes you wish we had brought Hoshi along," Travis commented off-hand as he sent the ship tumbling through the atmosphere in an attempt to loose the Suliban.

"Do not destroy them," Silik said as they chased after the shuttle pod. "Can they hail Enterprise?"

"No, sir," one of the younger officers said as he adjusted the jamming signal slightly.

"Excellent," Silik said with a smile as they continued after the small shuttle, rapidly gaining ground on it.

"Lock a tractor beam on them! Welcome them to the shuttle bay," he said as he left his chair once the lock had been established.

"Sir, I'm picking up another ship," The officer at Tactical said.

"The shuttle?"

"No sir," he said as he worked away at his console. "It's Suliban."

"Damn it," Archer swore. "Red alert, all hands to battle stations!" he called out as he sat down in his chair. "Set a pursuit course. Doctor," he called down to sickbay. "Do you remember what we talked about?"

"Certainly, Captain," the Denobulan replied.

"Start working on it. Reports, sensor logs, everything."

"Yes sir," Phlox said as he closed the comm channel and set about his work.

"Sir, they're in the atmosphere," the lieutenant at the helm reported. "Enterprise wasn't designed to chase ships around in atmospheres."

Archer frowned.

"Get as close as you can then. When they're in range, lay down some fire and keep them occupied while the shuttle docks."

A rumbling of "aye sir" was heard around the bridge as his orders were carried out.

"Hoshi, hail the shuttle," he said when he saw her slide into her seat.

As glad as he was to have her at her station, he did worry. She looked tired, and tired officers made mistakes.

"They're jamming all channels," she said with a shake of her head. "I can't get through to the shuttle.

"Tactical, take out their communications and weapons!" Archer watched as Enterprise fired on the Suliban ship and he gripped the arm rests on his chair a little tighter, expecting the Suliban to fire back

"They're ignoring us, sir," the crewman reported.

"Keep firing," Archer ordered. "Helm, get us closer."

"Sir, they have the shuttle in a tractor beam." The bridge grew silent at these words. They could send out the grappling hooks, but they would do little more than pull the Enterprise along with the shuttle.

"Fire on the emitters, don't let them get the shuttle inside." Hoshi finally found a clear channel, only to have Silik appear on their screen

"Too late," she commented.

"Captain Archer!" Silik hissed through his teeth. "I seem to have found something that belongs to you, several somethings in fact," he said, quite pleased with himself.

"Let them go, Silik."

"Give me the girl," he ordered as he grabbed Ryan and pulled him in front of the view screen. "Send her over with your transporters or I'll kill him." Archer held his breath slightly as a phase pistol came into view and took aim at Ryan's head.

"She's dead," Archer lied. "She died shortly after we rescued her from you."

"Lies!" he yelled as he fingered the trigger. Archer watched as Ryan swallowed hard, but didn't say anything.

"I'm not. Our doctor is just finishing up his report on the matter. Would you like me to send it over?" he asked as he watched Silik crumble into a blind furry.

"You will send the girl over immediately," he said through clenched teeth. "You will send her over or I will kill him and then another member of the away team and then another until I have her."

Archer thought about it for a long moment. "Captain, my patience is wearing thin . . . " he warned.

"Fine," Archer said. He watched as Hoshi's head jerked up and looked at him in surprise and was pleased that she didn't say anything. "As soon as the shuttle is out of your weapons and tractor beam range, I'll beam her body over."

"Acceptable," Silik concluded. "A pleasure doing business with you, Captain," he said as he cut the comm channel. "Get them back to their shuttle," he said. "And keep a weapons lock on them."

"Sir. . ."

"If Archer deceives us, I want to be ready to carry through with my original threat," he finished as he sat back and waited.

"Archer to Phlox, are you ready?"

"Yes Captain. I'm on my way to the torpedo bay right now."

"Excellent, I'll be there shortly. Archer out."

"Sir!" Hoshi started as she jumped out of her seat.

"Ensign, calm down," he said as he gestured to the turbo lift. "I have no intention of turning her over to them," he said after the doors had closed.

"A few sensor ghosts never hurt anyone," he said with a slightly smile as they exited the lift and headed for the torpedo bay.

"I need you to help with the encryption code on the torpedo. I want it to take them a few minutes to crack it open since I intend to be well on our way when they find out there's nothing in it."

Hoshi swallowed hard and nodded. She clasped her hands together to keep them from shaking. She should have known Archer would never give up and roll over that easily.

"I'll do my best, sir," she said as she sat herself down in front of the torpedo and started to program, just as Phlox came in with his own PADD and started to input data.

"T'Lin is up and roaming the ship again," Phlox supplied as they worked.

"How is she?"

"She should still be in bed, but you know how you Archers are when there's work to do," he commented off hand. Hoshi smirked a little as she worked. "I imagine she's conferring with Admiral Tucker on the situation."

"That's what I'd do," Archer commented as she watched the progress over Hoshi's shoulder. "Isn't that a little simplistic?"

"I want them to have some success at first, so they don't get suspicious," she said as she kept going. Archer nodded and started to pace a little.

"Bridge to Archer."

"Archer here," he said, trying not to sound nervous.

"Sir, the shuttle is in range, the Suliban are becoming impatient."

"Tell them we'll be sending her over in a minute. We're . . .still saying goodbye." The comm fell silent as Archer looked to his officers.

"Done," they both said at the same time.

"Transporter room, lock onto the torpedo and beam it 500 meters from the bow of the Suliban ship." 

The group watched as the torpedo disappeared.

"If they want it, they're going to work for it," he told Hoshi and Phlox. "Get the shuttle in here, I want to leave before they figure things out," he said as he headed off to the bridge.

"Where is it?" Silik hissed.

"I'm picking up a small object 500 meters off the bow. It's a torpedo casing. I'm reading human remains within."

"Bring it in quickly!" Silik commanded as he got up from his command chair. "Take her to sick bay and begin the procedure immediately!" he said as he left the bridge.

Archer returned to the bridge and silently urged the shuttle to hurry as he cast nervous glances at Hoshi.

"They've captured the torpedo and have brought it in," she said.

"The shuttle?"

"Docked," she said after a tense minute.

"Helm, get us out of here, warp 5. Archer to Engineering, give me all you've got. I want more than warp 5 if we can."

"Aye sir," Tucker replied as he set his crew in motion. "5.1 okay?" he asked after a while. "We can hold it for a couple of hours."

"Good enough. Keep an eye on the Suliban ship as long as we can. I want to know if they come looking for us. Have the Admiral and T'Lin meet me in sick bay," he said as he left the bridge in a hurry.

By the time Archer got to sickbay, T'Lin and Phlox were already arguing over her ability to help with the treatment. Just as he was about to step in, Tucker did it for him.

""Doctor, no one else here has the expertise to help you with this. You don't have much choice," he said as he laid a hand on T'Lin's shoulder. 

"Lieutenant," he said quietly. "Take you time, don't make a liar out of me."

"Yes sir," she muttered as she looked down at her PADD to re-read what she had already programmed into it. Tucker stepped back to stand with Archer as they watched the two buzz around sickbay, gathering what they needed to start.

"Sending the empty torpedo over, that was a nice touch," Tucker said. Archer looked over at him and smiled a little.

"Who said it was empty?" Archer asked with a smirk. "There should be a lovely little radiation leak that will keep them busy for a while, give us a chance to get away."

Tucker laughed as they leaned against a bio bed.

"I knew there was a reason Starfleet kept sending you on impossible missions," he said with a chuckle.

Jonathon considered asking about other missions, but he was tired of hearing about this temporal prime directive.

"Will she be all right now?" Jon asked. Garrett sighed and considered things for a moment.

"Physically," he started. "She should be. Mentally . . ." he trailed off and Archer nodded.

"I expected as much." Tucker sighed as he stood up and straightened his uniform.

"I should go, see what kind of damage was done to the time line. T'Lin," he called out. "Contact me as soon as you and the Dr. are done."

"Yes sir," she said as she turned back to her PADD, pointing things out to Phlox as she went. Archer pushed off of the bio bed and lead Tucker towards the cargo bay.

"Are we going to remember any of this?' Archer asked. Tucker considered the events for a moment or two.

"Most likely," he said. "Considering that you haven't learned how to properly use any of the technology we had with us, I see no reason to reset your memory anagrams. Starfleet, might see different, so I won't make nay promises, but, we should be able to simply come back and collect Hallee when she's well and take her back home. She won't remember any of her adventures, however."

Archer nodded, that he understood. "I'll take my leave, Captain. Thank you for the hospitality."

"What about Daniels?"

"He'll stick around until T'Lin are ready to leave. Just in case. . ."

"Right. Thank you Admiral," he said as he offered a hand. Tucker shook it before stepping away into the open area of a cargo bay. Archer watched as he called for a transport and dematerialized.

Phlox looked over the chemical diagram T'Lin had provided.

"Starfleet has been working on a vaccine with these properties."

"It will be another 50 years before you are able to create a stable synthetic version," T'Lin replied as she checked over her work once more. "This may, however, shorten that time."

"Can you tell me more about what's making her ill?" he asked as he began to process the samples the away team had returned with.

"The Chronotrons and the Neutrinos in the barrier she passed through melded with her own cells. The concentration replicated every time her cells went through mitosis. It's a very rare occurrence. I believe the same symptoms have only ever been observed in a handful of people, most of whom worked in the cores of early time ships." 

Phlox considered this for a moment.

"I've encountered Chronotron and Neutrino particles before, why couldn't I detect them this time?"

"If she had been on Enterprise when she started to display the early symptoms, you most likely would have been able to identify the particles and treat them. However, as time went on, not only were they multiply, but they were mutating until finally, they were no longer recognized by any of your scanners.

"There," she said, finishing up her calculations on the PADD. "This is the compound you need."

"Ingenious," Phlox said as he studied the PADD for a moment longer. "Ensign," Phlox called out to Cutler. "If you would please revive Hallee?"

"Are you going to alert Commander Tucker and Ensign Sato?" T'Lin asked.

"I think this will go much smoother if we call them in after we're done," Phlox said with a smile as he and T'Lin began to assemble the vaccine.

"Whatcha doin'?" Trip asked after he finally found Hoshi.

"Packing," she replied.

"I can see that," he said as he picked up a PADD of stories. "Why?" Hoshi shrugged.

"Why not? They're going to cure her and send her home. The sooner I get this over with, the better."

"Come on Hosh," he said as he crouched down beside her and stopped her hands from moving. "Who knows if they're gonna send her home. Maybe. . . Maybe the time line's been changed so much they can't. I hate to bring'er home and have'er askin' why all her stuff is put away."

"Charlie, she's not coming back here," she said as she finally looked at him. "We both knew this day was coming. Hoped it wasn't, but knew that it was. Besides, a Starship is no place to raise a kid. She needs to be back on earth with her parents and brother, not up here with us."

"Hoshi," he tried again.

"She's not our baby, Charlie," she said again, bringing her hands up to cup his face. "She needs to go home and forget about all of this."

His eyes frantically searched her face, but gave up when he saw the tears in her eyes. He knew everything she was saying was true and he finally gave in and started to help her pack.

"She should be up and about in a few hours," Phlox announced to Archer.

"Where's T'Lin?"

"She left to contact Tucker and Daniels, to see when they should return to their ship." Archer nodded and glanced over at the little red head on a bio bed. He watched as Liz Cutler buzzed around, taking a few readings before leaving the girl.

"Ah, Captain," T'Lin said as she came back into sickbay. "Is she awake yet?"

"No," Phlox replied. "Not for another few hours." Lt. Archer nodded and stayed silent for a moment.

"Lieutenant?" Archer asked.

"She won't be returning home," T'Lin said. "Captain Daniels and Admiral Tucker have studied all the available data and it is impossible, the time line has been changed to the point that even by resetting it, there will still be temporal loops. She must remain in this century." 

Phlox and Archer stared at her for a long moment.

"What kind of loops? Surely. . ." Archer started.

"In one reality, her parents don't know who she is. In another, she never left, there would be two of her. In a third, she never existed." The Vulcan rattled off. "She must remain here. Admiral Tucker sent this for you." She held out a computer chip.

"Thanks," he said as he took it from her.

"I will take my leave now, unless there is something else?"

"No, no. Go ahead," he said absently.

"Thank you," she said as she turned on her heel. She paused at the door for a moment before turning around and coming back over to Archer.

"Lieutenant?" he asked. T'Lin smirked a little and gave into her impulsive side and hugged Archer for a moment.

Startled by this, he didn't respond immediately, but eventually did.

"See ya, Gramps," she said with a cocky little smile before her Vulcan mask slid back into place and she calmly left sickbay.

Phlox chuckled at the whole scene before he too wandered off to check on Hallee.

"Perhaps some one should alert Commander Tucker and Ensign Sato to this new development?" he suggested, glancing over his shoulder at Archer.

"Right," he said as he left sickbay, the computer chip still in his hand.

"Your task is complete?" T'Pol asked after T'Lin had found her.

"It is. Thought he outcome has been less than satisfactory."

"The child is not well?" T'Pol asked as she set a cup of tea down on the table for each of them.

"No, she is, only she must remain in this century. I suppose it's a small price to pay for averting a temporal war, but it seems unfair." Both women studied the rim of their cups for a moment.

"She will have many more advantages here than she would have in the 20th century. Superior medicine, education, quality of life in general."

"Perhaps," T'Lin agreed with a small shrug. "But she will also have to live with the knowledge that she may never again see her parents or brother."

"She will adapt," T'Pol assured T'Lin. "They will always carry a place in her life."

A comfortable silence fell over them as they finished their tea. "You are going home then?"

"Yes. I have already said my other farewells." T'Pol nodded as she stood and gathered the dirty cups.

"Live long and prosper," T'Pol bid her as she stood as well. "My child," she finished.

"Peace and long life," T'Lin finished, almost in a whisper. They two looked at each other for a long moment before T'Lin quietly slipped out and headed to the cargo bay.

"She's staying," Archer said all at once. Trip and Hoshi stopped what they were doing and looked at him. "Something with the time line, she can't go home."

They looked at each other.

"When can we see her?" Trip asked, the first to get his voice back.

"Now, if you want. Phlox says she should be awake in a couple of hours."

"Thanks Cap'n," Trip said.

Archer simply nodded and left, still a little shocked by the whole turn of events. Trip and Hoshi looked at each other for a moment before he finally enfolded her in his arms.

"Maybe she is supposed to be ours," he whispered into her hair.

"Maybe she is," Hoshi said as they pulled apart to look at each other. "I guess we shouldn't have packed this all up."

"Unpacking is easy," he said as he dumped the toys in one corner, the books and PADDs on the coffee table and left the clothes folded on Hoshi's bed.

"All done," he said with a goofy smile that she couldn't help but return. "Come on," he said as he took her hand and led her towards sickbay.

Captain's log May 20th, 2154

We're still a few weeks from earth and the conflict that is waiting for us there. Commander Tucker and Ensign Sato have decided that, if necessary, they will both resign their commissions to keep custody of Hallee. While the crew is still reeling from the events of the past month, life aboard Enterprise is slowly returning to normal.

"End log," Archer said as he sat back from the computer terminal and glanced over at Porthos who was laying near the door, waiting and hoping for a certain friend to come and play with him. "Begin personal log," he said after a long moment.

Captain's personal log. May 20th, 2154.

We're still a few weeks from earth and, after some advice from the ship's doctor, we've decided that some leave is in order, if only to delay the return to earth. A few weeks on Risa has been arranged for the crew, with everyone getting at least one day and night on the planet. Everyone has a fairly good idea of what awaits us there and we're in no hurry to deal with it. Trip and Hoshi have both decided that Hallee is more important to them then Starfleet, something I expected from Hoshi, but never from Trip. I guess being in love does strange things to a man's goals in life. . .

Hallee is. . . . Not the same little girl we found on board this ship a month ago. While Phlox assures me that she will eventually over come her fears, I still find it discouraging to watch her struggle through a day, afraid of what may be lurking behind corners and in empty rooms.

As much as it pains me to admit it, Trip and Hoshi leaving Starfleet may be the best thing for her.

T'Pol and I are another mess that needs time to sort out. While no specifics were given as to how our relationship will change from professional to personal there is now a space 8 feet wide between us. Whether intentional or not, we are still avoiding each other.

T'Lin's little impulsive action in Sick bay hasn't really helped me feel any better about the situation . . .

"End personal log. All right," he said with a sigh. "If she's not going to come to you, let's go find her,"

Archer said as he stood and grabbed Porthos' leash and ball. "Off ya go," he said as he opened the door and let the beagle head off to find his kid.

Archer smiled as Porthos finally tracked Hallee down in the mess hall. The little dog trotted over to her and flopped down at her feet.

"Hi Porthos," she said quietly as she scratched his head a little.

"He's missed you," Jonathon said as he crouched down next to her chair and held out the ball. "I think you've missed him, too." 

Hallee looked at the Captain and cautiously took the ball from him before casting a glance at Hoshi.

"I think you two could use some time in the cargo bay," she said as she grabbed one last piece of fruit off of her tray and stood up.

"Come on Porthos," she said as Jon handed her the leash. She smiled as the little dog jumped around at her feet and tried to drag her out of the room faster.

"Take all the time you want," he said to them as they left the mess hall and he stayed behind. "Trip!" Jon said when he saw him. "How about that water polo match?" he asked as he lead the engineer off to watch their favorite sport.

Slowly, but surely, things were getting back to normal.


End file.
